A photographer spent 25 years documenting rich people — here’s what she learned

Lauren Greenfield

Award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has been photographing and interviewing the wealthy since the early 1990s. After attending college at Harvard, Greenfield returned to her home in Los Angeles, and began documenting youth culture.

At that time, she didn’t realize that she was photographing the beginning of “a period of rampant materialism and wealth obsession,” as economist and sociologist Juliet Schor writes in the introduction of “Generation Wealth,” Greenfield’s newest book.

Since then, Greenfield’s work has expanded internationally — examining megamansions, extravagant bottle service at night clubs, a 24-karat solid gold toilet, America’s obsession with plastic surgery, and much more.

“What I learned from many of [my subjects] is that chasing wealth is unending and ultimately unsatisfying. As the former Wall Street trader Sam Polk recognizes, it’s an addiction like any other, and the more you have, the more you want and the more you think you need,” wrote Greenfield in her introduction. Ahead, a look inside “Generation Wealth.” Captions written by Greenfield.