We’re used to participating in Christie’s auctions as mere spectators, gawking at items like the Maharaja of Patiala’s banqueting service or the original Apple 1. But this week Christie’s is offering up a collection of National Geographic’s most iconic shots — and they’re surprisingly affordable.
The nine-day, online-only auction celebrates the magazine’s 125th birthday, so it includes 125 photos pulled from the voluminous archive. They include iconic shots like Stephen Alvarez’s Majlis al Jinn Cave, above, as well as two images from the Kodachrome negatives of NatGeo’s most-lauded photographer, Thomas Abercrombie.
The photos are still fairly expensive as prints go (though it could be worse), but part of the cash will go to helping preserve NatGeo’s archives, which is a nice thing. If you still can’t partake, be sure to follow the magazine on Instagram — it’s just as much fun. [Boundless: 125 Years of National Geographic Photography at Christie’s]
Hubbard Glacier Explodes, Disenchantment Bay, Alaska, 1986, Chris Johns.
New York, 2007, Jim Richardson.
The Flatiron, Madison Square, New York, 1918, by W. W. Rock.
Prada, by Elmgreen and Dragset, Marfa, Texas, 2010 Michael and Jennifer Lewis.
A Kuchi Woman Lifts a Young Child, Afghanistan, 1968, by Thomas J. Abercrombie.