LOS ANGELES, CA.- Los Angeles fashion photographer, Robert Voltaire, earned a pretty penny this week. A fine art nude photograph taken by the artist fetched $22,000.00 in a Beverly Hills auction.

The black and white photograph, "Il Delphino" (The Dolphin) depicts Anna Grigorienko, a fashion model, thrusting upward from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea creating a large splash around her. The image was taken by Robert Voltaire in Gaeta, Italy as an outtake during a shoot for famed fashion designer Lloyd Klein and was purchased by an unamed Swedish buyer. It was sold as a large scale silver gelatin print. The high price confirms that youth and beauty are golden and art transcends our current economic crisis.

Mr Voltaire writes in intimate detail about his weeklong relationship shooting the fashion model and shooting nudes in general in his personal fashion photography blog.

"Two keys to a nude portrait are simplicity and the woman. I prefer models who are comfortable in their own skin and willing to share their body and emotions as great actresses do. Photography is about storytelling and fantasy.

When I am shooting I think cinematically. Where is she going? Where is she from? Sometimes it’s the details… Where are her hands? What is her mouth saying?

The texture of the environment or the quality of light falling on her are important. Perhaps it's a linear detail that inspires me. Ultimately a photograph can never capture a person's true beauty its up to the viewer to interpret it."

The California born, international fashion photographer is mostly known for his fashion photography, beauty photography and fine art body portraits of stunning models appearing in magazine editorials worldwide including: Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan, Max and Playboy.

In 2008 Mr. Voltaire was named as a master of black and white photography by German Max Magazine.