Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky (January 15, 1955) is a German visual artist known for his enormous architecture and landscape color photographs, often employing a high point of view. He is represented by the Matthew Marks Gallery in New York and by Sprüth Magers Berlin London in Europe.
Visually, Gursky is drawn to large, anonymous, man-made spaces—high-rise facades at night, office lobbies, stock exchanges, the interiors of big box retailers. Gursky’s style is enigmatic and deadpan. There is little to no explanation or manipulation on the works.
Gursky's Dance Valley festival photograph, taken near Amsterdam in 1995, depicts attendees facing a DJ stand in a large arena, beneath strobe lighting effects. The pouring smoke resembles a human hand, holding the crowd in stasis. After completing the print, Gursky explained the only music he now listens to is the anonymous, beat-heavy style known as Trance, as its symmetry and simplicity echoes his own work—while playing towards a deeper, more visceral emotion.
As of early 2007, Gursky holds the record for highest price paid at auction for a single photographic image. His print 99 Cent II, Diptych, sold for GBP 1.7 million (USD $3.3 million) at Sotheby's, London.