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The second AFP photo auction raised nearly 200,000 euros, including nearly 15,000 euros for the first three NFTs offered by the agency.

In total, 90 percent of the lots offered were sold at the auction on Saturday, which brought together more than 500 participants who either joined online or attended in person at the Ellia Art Gallery in Paris.

The auction included a wide range of subjects, from images of cannons in the 1870 Franco-Prussian war, to the Liberation of Paris, Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final and fire engulfing Notre-Dame. The agency offered more than 200 photos from its archives in the auction that was the culmination of an exhibition that attracted more than 5,000 visitors over 10 days.

In a first, AFP sold three NFTs (digital photos authenticated by a certificate deemed unfalsifiable). There was big success for the image of the American politician Bernie Sanders wearing mittens at the 2021 US presidential inauguration. The subject of countless memes on social media, the image’s NFT sold for 7,500 euros. 

Marielle Eudes, AFP’s director of special photo projects, said the exhibition and sale “established AFP in the world of collections and also brought it closer to the public, making it a double success”. A number of the photographs will be housed in private or institutional collections.

Saturday’s sale was organised by Ader Entreprises & Patrimoine, in partnership with LaCollection.io for the three digital editions.

The funds raised by AFP will go towards the preservation and restoration of its photographic archive.