Reading Response #3

I found Lauren Greenfield’s approach towards her art very interesting in a sense that she appears to capture all the elements of extreme wealth - such as materialism, capitalism and pop culture. Being that most photographers seem to capture something that is exotic or unfamiliar, Greenfield takes the opposite approach in the sense that she captures the content in which the mainstream media wants to present. Additionally, I think that the originality behind her photos comes from the idea that she is capturing the one percent who live in extreme wealth. Another interesting part about Greenfield’s photography is how she captures what wealth looks like in different parts of the world, presenting the difference between cultures and lifestyles. Starting off her project in Los Angeles, Greenfield went around the wealthiest neighbourhoods to interview and photograph the luxurious lifestyle of America’s richest. Eventually, Greenfield went around the world to show that the ideas and fantasies of wealth in the American Dream is present globally. On top of that, I also feel that her work questions the notion of wealth leading to happiness. One last thing that seems obvious throughout Greenfield’s photos are how the subjects all flaunt their wealth in a way that it appears to be a part of their persona - the way that they dress, live, interact, etc.

Reading Response #3: Work