NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries’ October 16, 2025, sale of Fine Photographs brought $1.1M and established two auction records. Of the sale department director, Deborah Rogal, noted: “We are delighted with the results of our Fine Photographs auction, which showed strength and competition throughout and demonstrated the continued enthusiasm for photography among collectors. With thrilling results for work by Steve McCurry, Ruth Orkin, Ansel Adams, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and many others, as well as a record for the W. Eugene Smith Saipan (two soldiers), the sale showcased a broad range of practitioners and mediums. Photography’s diversity, relevance, and accessibility continue to drive the success of our sales.”
Steven McCurry’s rare portfolio Children, one of an edition of five, and complete with 10 striking photographs, including Afghan Girl, circa 1992-2001, printed 2010, made its auction debut. The iconic work brought $33,560. W. Eugene Smith’s Saipan (two soldiers), silver print, 1944, printed 1950s, set a record for the image at $33,020, against a $5,000 to $7,500 estimate.
Portraiture was led by Her Ritts’ Wrapped Torso, Los Angeles, platinum print, 1989, at $16,510. Further works included Richard Avedon’s Andy Warhol, Artist, New York City, 8-20-69, silver print, 1969, printed 1975, at $10,160, Robert Mapplethorpe’s Phillip Prioleau (on a pedestal), silver print, 1979, at $9,525, and George Platt Lynes’ Yul Brynner, silver print, 1951, at $8,890.
Ansel Adams’ images of the Sierra Nevada were among the top lots of the sale, with Sierra Nevada, Winter, from the Owens Valley, California, silver print, 1944, printed December 1978, and Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California, silver print, 1944, printed April 1978, earned $33,020 each. Additional landscape photography included Carleton E. Watkins’ Distant View of the Domes, mammoth albumen print, 1865-66, at $13,970, Sebastião Salgado’s Elephant (against light), Kafue National Park, Zambia, silver print, 2010, at $9,525, Edweard Muybridge’s Cloud’s Rest, Valley of the Yosemite (No 40), mammoth albumen print, 1872, at $6,858, and Eliot Porter’s portfolio with 12 of 12 dye transfer prints Two: Iceland, 1975, at $6,604.
City scenes and daily life included Ruth Orkin’s American Girl in Italy (Ninalee Craig), silver print, 1951, printed 1980, which earned $25,400, and Eugène Atget’s Coiffeur, Avenue de l’Observatoire, Paris, aristotype, at $25,400. Also of note was Lewis W. Hine’s Welders on the Empire State Building, silver print, circa 1930, which brought $15,240, and El 67th Street, New York, silver print, 1955, printed later, at $8,890.
Color Photography included Lucas Samaras’ Photo-transformation 11/5/73, unique SX-70 Polaroid, 1973, sold for $15,240, Harold Edgerton’s Seeing the Unseen: Twelve Photographs by Harold Edgerton, portfolio with 12 photographs, five dye transfer and seven silver prints, at $13,200, and Barbara Kasten’s Photogenic Painting 74, unique cyanotype, vandyke photogram, 1974, at $12,065.
Hiroshi Sugimoto was the star of the contemporary offering with Rosecrans Drive-In, Paramount, silver print, 1993, earning $21,590, and Palms, Michigan, silver print, 1980, bringing $19,050. George Tice’s Petit’s Mobil Station and Watertower, Cherry Hill, N.J., selenium-toned silver print, 1974, printed 1988, was also popular with collectors, selling for $11,430.
