Lauren Greenfield

Named “the foremost visual chronicler of the plutocracy” by the New York Times, acclaimed Emmy-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield is also widely known for her work exploring issues of wealth, consumerism, gender, and the impact of media on culture. She gained prominence for her ability to capture intimate and often stark portrayals of contemporary society. She has published three photographic monographs, directed four documentary films, exhibited in museums, and published in magazines and other publications.

In 2015, Greenfield directed the viral Super Bowl ad #LikeAGirl, which garnered over 90 million downloads and 12 billion impressions. The ad was named YouTube's third-best of the decade and swept the advertising awards, earning Greenfield recognition as AdAge's #1 and Most Awarded Director, the first woman to top this list. The spot won a 2015 Emmy, 14 Cannes Lions (including the prestigious Titanium Lion), and was added to the Museum of Modern Art's collection. ESPN also named Greenfield a Top 25 Impact Influencer, and its sequel, "Unstoppable Like a Girl," achieved over 80 million impressions.

In 2018, Greenfield released "Generation Wealth," a documentary and photo series that examined society's obsession with materialism, status, and fame over the course of 25 years. The project combined her skills as both a photographer and filmmaker, offering a critical lens on the intersection of culture and capitalism. The film opened the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, screened at Berlinale, SXSW, and was globally released by Amazon Studios. In 2019, "Generation Wealth" earned a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Documentary Screenplay and a Motion Picture Sound Editors nomination for Best Sound Editing. The project also won her the Paris Photography Prize (PX3) and Photographer of the Year from the Art Directors Club. In 2018, she received the LA Film Festival's Spirit of Independence Award, and the companion exhibition has since toured globally.

Greenfield's 2012 documentary "The Queen of Versailles" is one of her most well-known works, chronicling the lives of a billionaire family as they attempt to build one of the largest homes in America during the 2008 financial crisis. The film was widely praised for its exploration of wealth, excess, and the American Dream. The Opening Night film of Sundance 2012, it won her the Best Director Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition. “The Queen of Versailles” went on to box office success and critical acclaim, including winning the Brisbane International Film Festival Prize, and nominations for Best Documentary by the Directors Guild, International Documentary Association, Critics Choice, and the London Critics Circle Film Awards.

Greenfield also previously directed three award-winning documentary films – “THIN," “kids + money” and “Beauty CULTure” (Annenberg Space for Photography) which opened at Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals. Her latest documentary "Social Studies" is a gripping exploration of teen life in the digital age, focusing on the profound effects social media has on today’s youth. The film, released as part of FX’s The New York Times Presents series, delves into issues such as comparison culture, self-expression, and the pressures teens face while navigating the online world.

Named one of the 2015 Top 10 directors in Adweek’s Most Creative 100 People and by American Photo as one of the 25 most influential photographers working today, Greenfield started her career as an intern for National Geographic after graduating from Harvard. Her photographs have regularly appeared in the New York Times Magazine, TIME, GQ, and The Guardian, and have won many awards including the ICP Infinity Award, the Hasselblad Grant, the Community Awareness Award from the National Press Photographers, and the Moscow Biennial People’s Choice Award. She has also been named one of Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women. She lectures at museums and universities around the world and serves on the Advisory Committee of Harvard University’s Office for the Arts.