Tetons and Snake River, by Ansel Adams, is one of more than 1,200 photographs from Polaroid's historic collection that will go on the block at Sotheby's.Tetons and Snake River, by Ansel Adams, is one of more than 1,200 photographs from Polaroid's historic collection that will go on the block at Sotheby's. (Ansel Adams/Associated Press)

More than 1,200 images from the Polaroid Collection, by some of the biggest names in photography, will be up for auction.

Sotheby's is auctioning the photos, created by conventional as well as instant cameras, June 21-22 in New York.

Landscape photographer Ansel Adams, who was a consultant to Polaroid for 35 years, owned about 400 of the photos, and acquired for the company works from master photographers such as Margaret Bourke-White and Edward Weston.

The photographs were acquired through Polaroid's artist support program, which provided free cameras and film to artists in exchange for their feedback on the equipment and images.

Other photos that will be on the block were taken by the likes of Andy Warhol, Helmut Newton, David Hockney, Walker Evans, Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Mapplethorpe.

Some of the famous shots up for auction include:

  • Ansel Adams' mural-sized silver gelatin print, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, estimated to be worth as much as $350,000 US.
  • Adams' Bridalveil Fall, valued at up to $100,000 US.
  • Dorothea Lange's famous Depression-era Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, valued at up to $80,000 US.
With files from The Associated Press