Cela fait déjà plusieurs années que l’on écrit sur l’œuvre de Lauren Greenfield. Mais c’est sa dernière exposition qui nous a semblé la plus pertinente. Tout aussi critique que le travail de Martin Parr, Lauren explore le désir d’accumuler, le culte de la célébrité, le consumérisme, le pouvoir du sexe et du marketing, ainsi que leurs conséquences éventuelles. Comme l’explique l’excellente Juliet Schor résume dans l’avant-propos du livre consacré à l’œuvre de Lauren : « Prenez garde à vos désirs », nous avertit l’un des sujets de Greenfield un peu avant la fin de cette odyssée. Ses modèles sont souvent remplis de douleurs, de nostalgie et de remords. Ce sont les ados ultra-riches de L.A., dont les parents matérialistes n’ont pas le temps de s’occuper, les gamins pauvres qui sacrifient leur corps et leur âme pour être à la hauteur des bals de promo, ou les traîtres en cols blancs qui reconnaissent le vide de leur vie, mais en restent les prisonniers. On trouve aussi dans ces pages des histoires puissantes de rédemption, même si Greenfield conclut au final que nous sommes tellement attirés par les charmes du matérialisme que le moment de moralité et de simplicité ayant émergé de ce fracas pourrait bien ne pas durer ».
One of Jackie’s four dogs wanders by a stuffed predecessor called Chanel, Windermere, 2009. David had a taxidermist preserve the pet as a gift to Jackie. The pelt of another of Jackie’s dogs, Polo, whom a staff member ran over in the Siegels’ driveway, adorns the grand piano.A planned community in Orlando, Florida, 2011. In the thirty-year period between 1983 and 2013, the average size of the American home grew from 1,725 square feet to 2,598 square feet.Jackie with some of her children in her living room, Windermere, 2009.Limited-edition, Swarovski crystal–encrusted McDonald’s fries purse by Kathrine Baumann, Beverly Hills, 1996. The designer has also memorialized Coke and Diet Coke cans (sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company) and the Little Mermaid, among other Disney characters.High school seniors (from left) Lili, 17, Nicole, 18, Lauren, 18, Luna, 18, and Sam, 17, put on their makeup in front of a two-way mirror for the author’s Beauty CULTure documentary, Los Angeles, 2011.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.Exotic dancer Tammy, 25, backstage at Little Darlings, the largest fully nude strip club in the United States, Las Vegas, 1995. Tammy has sixteen specially ordered outfits, which cost as much as $2,000 each.“Limo Bob”, the self-proclaimed “Limo King”, holds the record for owning the longest limousine in the world. Bob builds, sells and rents out limos in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and has created a fleet that includes the record-breaking 100-foot limo, and another made from a Boeing 727.Comedian Joan Rivers, 72, and lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, 64, on the set of Martha, New York City, 2005. Just over eight months after being released from prison, Stewart has staged a comeback with her own TV talk show and other projects. Her guest on the show, Rivers famously quipped that she had had more than seven hundred cosmetic-surgery procedures.lona at home with her daughter, Michelle, 4, Moscow, 2012. Ilona’s sweater was produced for her in a custom color by her friend Andrey Artyomov, whose Walk of Shame fashion line is popular among the wives of oligarchs.Models backstage at Prada’s spring show, Milan, 2009.Jackie, 41, and friends with Versace handbags at a private opening at the Versace store, Beverly Hills, 2007. A Versace devotee, Jackie shopped from monthly shipments of new merchandise that the design house sent to her home.
