A photograph by Australian photograph Peter Lik has been sold for $6.5 million, making it the most expensive photograph of all time. According to the Washington Post, the photograph, named "Phantom," shows shaft of light cutting through a monochromatic Arizona landscape. A color version also exists, titled "Ghost." The buyer of the photograph has not been disclosed, but has been vouched for by his lawyer, Joshua Roth of Los Angeles.

Mr. Lik has gained much popularity as a photographer in the past. According to his website, Lik's images "Illusion" and "Eternal Moods" were also acquired for $2.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Along with his sale of "One" for $1 million in 2010, Peter now holds four spots out of the top twenty most expensive photographs ever sold."

He is accomplished, too - he has been awarded the title of Master Photographer from both the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA).

However, there are a few notable critics of Like's work. Guardian Art Critic Jonathan Jones writes that photography is not an art, but a technology. He states, "Phantom is a black-and-white shot taken in Antelope Canyon, Arizona. The fact that it is in black and white should give us pause.

Today, this deliberate use of an outmoded style can only be nostalgic and affected, an 'arty' special effect. We've all got that option in our photography software. Yeah, my pics of the Parthenon this summer looked really awesome in monochrome. Lik's photograph is of course beautiful in a slick way, but beauty is cheap if you point a camera at a grand phenomenon of nature."

Photographer Scott Reither one sold many of Lik's works, but quit after "not being able to stomach it any further." He stated, "I know the subject of art and value is a touchy and sensitive subject, and I know there's plenty of foolish people that will pay a ridiculous amount of money for something solely because it's priced at a ridiculous amount of money ... the discussion with prospective buyers had to become about value, [and] I was done because I did not believe in the value of the product."

What do you think of this extraordinary sale?