Elton John in photo auction

Elton John, the British pop star, who usually makes his living tickling the ivories, netted $900,000 Thursday night by auctioning off a collection of photographs taken by some of the world’s most famous photographers.

The top earner was a 1988 black-and-white Robert Mapplethorpe photo of a vase holding white tulips, netting $83,650, said Rik Pike, a spokesman for auction house Christie’s New York. A 1950 Irving Penn photograph of his wife, Swedish model Lisa Fonssagrives, took in $57,360, Pike said.