While hugely successful photographers rarely become household names, many will have seen the headlines about their photographs making millions at auction. 

German photographer Andreas Gursky has dominated the field in recent years, with his record-breaking photography sales matched only by a select few others. Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the world's most valuable photos, listed in ascending order. All dollar values in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

Note: We have deliberately excluded Richard Prince's Spiritual America from our round-up due to the nature of the image. London's Metropolitan police had the photograph removed from public display at the Tate Modern in 2009 as it showed a then 10-year-old Brooke Shields naked.