February 14, 2006, a photograph taken by Edward Steichen, The Pond-Moonlight (1904) was sold for $2,928,000 at Sotheby's, New York. It is the highest price ever paid for a photograph. The second highest is a picture by Richard Prince, untitled but commonly named as Cowboy in 1989. It was sold last fall at Christie's for $1,248,000. And for third place winner is Gustave Le Gray's The Great Wave (1857), sold for $838,000 in 1999.

These three photographs are masterpieces. Having seen two of them myself, and even assisting in the auction of the second one, I can honestly say that once you've seen one of them you are a different person. That is why people go to museums, buy art, or read about art.

As many bored people like me might know, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (but especially Angelina Jolie) are expecting a baby. Everybody would agree that we seem to care more about this news than what is happening in Iraq. But did you know that a paparazzo shot of the couple + newborn may be worth a million dollars?

It means that a tabloid picture of two movie stars might be worth more than some of the most famous works of art, and actually become the third most expensive picture of all time. I am shocked and amused at the same time. I don't know why we are wasting our time in front of our computers, blogging or trying to write good journalism articles. We should be in Namibia, trying to get that million dollar shot.