Lauren Greenfield is captivated by āØwealth. š¦©For 25 years, the California photographer focused on those living or chasing the extreme American dream ā not only in America but in China, Dubai, Milan and Moscow.
Along the way, sheās met people like Jackie and David Siegel, whose bankrupting efforts to live like royals ā in a Florida palace replete with a bowling alley, sushiź¦ bar and baseball field ā were depicted in Greenfieldās 2012 documentary, āThe Queen of Versailles.ā
Youāll find the Siegels among other rich and often āØridiculous folk in ā,ā Greenfieldās new book (Phaidon, out now) and exhibit, opening Sept. 20 at the Intešrnational Center of Photography (ICP).
Growing up in 1980s California, Greenfield š ·told The Post, opened her Ü«eyes to living large. While her college-professor parents gave her a comfortable, upper-middle-class life, her prep-school peers were getting Porsches.
āBy normal standards, I was privileged, but it always felt [that] I had less,ā the 51-year-old told The Post. And things have gotten worse. āWhere we used to compare ourselves with the neighbors, in the last 25 years, weāve spent more time with people weāve met on TV aānd their wealth. āKeeping up with the Jonesesā has literally become āKeeping Up wšith the Kardashians.ā ā
In fact, Greenfield photographed two members of that family ā a pre-teen Kim and Kourtney ā at a middle-school dancź¦¦e in Bel Air, Calif., in 1992. A decade later, theyād become the It girls in what Greenfield calls āa post-moral worldā: materially rich yet never satisfied.
Here ašre the photographerās behind-the-sceneš·s takes on a privileged few.
He owns a white house ā and a backyard Mount Rushmore
Greenfield photographed real estate magnate Huang Qiaolingšø in 2002 while shooting a story abš¦©out Chinaās emerging rich. From the windows of his 55,000-square-foot White House in Hangzhou, the mogul, now 58, could see the 20-foot-tall heads of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln rising from his mini-Mount Rushmore.
āI donāt know where he got this love of America,ā Greenfield said of the tycoon, whose staff reportšedly calls him āPresident Huang.ā
āHe was quite formal as he showed us around the grounds, but it was absolutely amazing. There was a š„full replica of the Oval Office, with a portrait of George Bush.ā She adds that thingsš might be different today, however.
When the photographer was in China in 2014, āpeople [do] not feel as comfortable bź©µeing on camera, showing off oneās wealth and love of Amešrica. What I saw in 2002, I donāt think youād see now.ā
The man who had a 100-foot limo
Robert Strauser, a k a āLimo Bob,ā owns the Guinness World Record-setting longest limousine: 100 feet long, with a pool šand helicopter pad. Greenfield shot the car-service owner in 2008 at his Chicago office in all his gilded, more-is-more glory: fur coat, stuffed animals and all.
āHeās not a rich person, but he loves bling ā itās part of his brand, and his work is about helping people show off. He wears over 30 pounds of gold and has a fur coat [pictured] that Mike Tyson supposedly gave him. Heās been the driver for rich people, drug dealers, rap stars and a lot of people ā he doesnāt even know what they do ā but if you have the money to be in the limo, there you are,ā Greenfiš«eld said.
āWhen I shot him, it was after the [housing market] crash, and people werenāt sure they wanted to be in limos . . . but that was relatively short-lived. His son, Bobby, was in the ‘My Super Sweet 16’ show for MTV and had, like, a 15-foot-high ice sculpture of himself.ā
Obsessed with āChitty Chitty Bang Bangā
The photographer shot socialite Suzanne Rogers, nowš“ 50, in her Toronto home in 2010 after meeting her at a fashion show in Paris. Rogers says her outlandish outfits and decor are inspired by the candy-factory heiress Truly Scrumptious, from the film āChitty Chitty Bang Bang.ā
āSheās married to Ed Rogers, a major media mogul in Canada. She says her style for her clothes and her house is essentially one and the same: āChitty Chitty Bang Bangā-inspired,ā Greenfield said. āHere sheās wearing an Oscar de la ļ·½Renta dress for a charitšy benefit.
āHer house is incredible ā even her bookcase is art directš²ed: They donāt appear to be real books because theyāre all the same. āShe had four closets and used the wine cellar as her overflow shoe closet ā she had 200 pairs of shoes, not including boots. She loves HermĆØs Birkin bags, which start at about $12,000, and said she had them in almost every color.ā
Today, Rogersā Instagram account is a candy-coated tribute to her ostentatious life: photos of her travels to London fashion week and a spa in Capri; and the socialite rubbing shoulders with Diane von Furstenberg, Bono and her neighborš¼, Sean Connery. Oh, and her Barbie-pink golf cart, complete with a āSuzanneā vanity plate.