Generation Wealth photographer and documentary maker Lauren Greenfield

Check out Lauren Greenfield in the New York Times!

Our Generation Wealth photographer is the subject of an insightful profile, tying in with the release of her new film

There’s a great profile of Generation Wealth photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield in the New York Times Sunday Business tomorrow

While some of the story will already be familiar to regular Phaidon.com readers, there are some very illuminating sections none the less. 

 

Mijanou, 18, who was voted Best Physique at Beverly Hills High School, skips class to go to the beach with friends on the annual Senior Beach Day, Santa Monica, California, 1993. From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield
Mijanou, 18, who was voted Best Physique at Beverly Hills High School, skips class to go to the beach with friends on the annual Senior Beach Day, Santa Monica, California, 1993. From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield

As the writer Kurt Stoller, points out, “Perhaps because she has spent her career watching the rich, Greenfield is herself rich to watch.” 

The NYT story goes a little into Greenfield’s upbringing – her mother was a psychologist, who "leaned into the counterculture of the 1970s, joining an 'eating collective' and refused to buy Greenfield brand-name clothes."

 

Kailia Deliz, 5, receiving her cash award for winning the Ventura County “Summer Fun” Beauty Pageant, Oxnard, California, 2011. The following year Kailia won $10,000 at the Universal Royalty National Pageant, a competition that is featured on the TV show Toddlers and Tiaras. From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield
Kailia Deliz, 5, receiving her cash award for winning the Ventura County “Summer Fun” Beauty Pageant, Oxnard, California, 2011. The following year Kailia won $10,000 at the Universal Royalty National Pageant, a competition that is featured on the TV show Toddlers and Tiaras. From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield

Interestingly, the piece reveals how the film project came about with Amazon Studios, courtesy of Lauren’s husband and co-producer Frank Evers. “Lauren had all of this material, so they saw a through line from the Reagan ’80s to Trump, with her as our narrator and guide,” Evers is quoted as saying in the piece.

 

Sara Jane Ho, 28, teaches etiquette skills for the wealthy, such as the proper pronunciation of foreign luxury brand names, Beijing, 2014; a still from Generation Wealth
Sara Jane Ho, 28, teaches etiquette skills for the wealthy, such as the proper pronunciation of foreign luxury brand names, Beijing, 2014; a still from Generation Wealth

The piece also investigates the decision to include her own family (she has two teenage sons) as a narrative foil in the Generation Wealth film. And Stoller highlights the fact that despite many of the people she documents, the director (also responsible for The Queen of Versailles) “seems determined not to absorb the aspirational codes she has spent her life decrypting.”

Want to see more?  The story is online here, you can buy our Generation Wealth book here – described by the Times as “a gold-hued, 503-page monograph and to find out where the movie is showing near you, go here.

 

Ashleigh, 13, at home with her friend and parents on her bat mitzvah day, Santa Monica, 1993. Her mother says, “Ashleigh was the star of the day. She was kind of like a budding rose coming into her own and having it all her way.” From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield
Ashleigh, 13, at home with her friend and parents on her bat mitzvah day, Santa Monica, 1993. Her mother says, “Ashleigh was the star of the day. She was kind of like a budding rose coming into her own and having it all her way.” From Generation Wealth by Lauren Greenfield