Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Lauren Greenfield

Quote by Lauren Greenfield

“What I'm documenting can be hard to distill, because it's all around us like the air we breathe. I often need to go to a place where I can capture extreme moments.”

Quote by Lauren Greenfield

Create image

Author

Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield

Lauren Greenfield is an American artist renowned for her photography and documentary films. Her work often focuses on social phenomena and human behavior, exploring themes such as consumerism, wealth, poverty, and youth culture. more

You May Also Like

“When I am with French people, I am not aloof because I belong to them. My view is that the French president belongs to the French people, because he emanates from them. What I do is this: I am putting an end to the cronyism between politics and the media. For a president, constantly speaking to journalists, constantly being surrounded by journalists, has nothing to do with closeness to the people. A president should keep the media at arm's length.”

PeoplePresidentJournalistClosenessAloof
Author:Emmanuel Macron
Create image

“During the Reagan eighties, the idea that money was a good thing - it was good to be rich; that wealth was a reflection of your character. We see this today in perceptions of Donald Trump: the idea that money is an expression of success and even goodness. I compare that with my dad's generation, where the American Dream was about giving your kids a better life, but not just in material terms. The American Dream was also about doing something good in the world. The home was at the center of the dream, but home also represented community, shelter, and stability for your family.”

WorldGivingCharacterHomeDreamKidsTodayTermCommunityWealthRichGoodnessPerceptionReflectionGood ThingsCompareOur FamilyStabilityAmerican DreamBetter Life
Author:Lauren Greenfield
Create image

“The 1970s were the height of social mobility. College was accessible. My grandfather was a poor immigrant who went to a public school in Ohio, and my father went to Harvard. That wasn't unusual. There was a feeling that anything was possible and you didn't have to be born into money to have a successful life. Now, people don't believe in the idea that anything is possible. We have more inequality than we've had ever before and a greater concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.”

PeopleBelieveFeelingsSchoolFatherWealthPoorSuccessfulCollegeInequalityConcentrationUnusualGrandfatherPublic SchoolMy GrandfatherAnything Is PossibleSuccessful Life
Author:Lauren Greenfield
Create image

“The economist Juliet Schor talks about how our reference group has changed over the last twenty-five years. As we spend less time with our neighbors, we're spending more time with people we know from TV and social media, and this becomes our new reference group. The media is full of images of people with wealth, and we're comparing ourselves to them and aspiring to what they have. Instead of keeping up with the Joneses family, we're trying to keep up with the Kardashians, even though it's completely unrealistic.”

PeopleTryingWealthChangedSocial MediaNeighborCompareEconomistJuliet
Author:Lauren Greenfield
Create image

“These days, the media is defining what cultural capital is, and it's easily learned. If you have money, anything can be bought. We see this in China and Russia with what I call the "Bling Dynasty and New Oligarchy" in Generation Wealth. As people got rich and everybody started buying Louis Vuitton bags, it became clear that to distinguish yourself you had to have more than an expensive bag. People began to want the things that money is not supposed to be able to buy - history, tradition, education, and culture.”

PeopleCultureWealthRichTraditionLouis Vuitton
Author:Lauren Greenfield
Create image

“Hip-hop has been so important in my work, because it speaks to the idea of money being tied to cultural capital in an honest and transparent way. When I was growing up in LA, money was equivalent to class, and it was a passport. Hip-hop emphasizes that, but Hollywood and show business bear it out. If you have money, there really is no barrier to social mobility. There are still social clubs in Newport where you can't get in even if you have money, but that is really rare.”

ImportantSpeakGrowing UpHonestBarriersShow Business
Author:Lauren Greenfield
Create image