An Edward Steichen photograph, "The Pond, Moonlight," recently sold at Sotheby's New York for just over $2.9 million, easily setting a world record for the highest-priced photograph ever auctioned, according to the auction house.

The final bid on Steichen's "Pond," one of only three known prints of this image, was almost three times its high estimate of $1 million. The purchaser was Peter MacGill, of Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York city, on behalf of a private collector.

The February sale featured 113 photography lots from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including works from...