Mention the word ‘Harrods’ and opulence comes to mind, which is fair given that it’s where the world’s ultra-wealthy super-elite tend to shop when they pay a visit to Knightsbridge in London.

These people are the focus of a new book by social documentary photographer Dougie Wallace, titled “Harrodsburg”, which tells the “story of opulence, wealth and abundance that most people in the world can barely imagine”.

More from the Telegraph:

Pumped up lips, botoxed foreheads and piles of shopping bags are interspersed with £2 million Ferrari and Bugatti cars. Men and women dripping in gold go about their shopping, Chichuahas tucked into their handbags. Through the prism of the world famous department store Harrods, Wallace tells a story of “glut, greed, and the wealth gap.”

Charming. Over on his website, you can find those pictures:

More from Dougie about the new book:

“There’s this shocking statistic,” explains Dougie, when I ask him why he started the Harrodsburg project. “The statistic is that the life expectancy at birth for men in Kensington and Chelsea is 84, and for women it’s 87. In Carlton, the place where I’m from in Glasgow, the life expectancy for men is the lowest in the United Kingdom, 54. So, I decided to photograph people on the buses there, and then compare them to the people on the buses near Harrods. And now it’s 70 trips later – I’ve lost count.”

…“It doesn’t bother me too much,” he says about the anger he sometimes experiences when photographing his subjects. “So, I’d be a sociopath if I was just going up to any person in the street and photographing them, then I’d be a nutcase. But I’m not, I know exactly what I’m doing. I need to tell a story, and up close is the best way to get it.”

…”I always go on a sunny day, and unless you’re looking directly at me, you won’t see the flash. But I like the reaction – it’s that I’m after. It’s like boxing. If you put energy into the pictures you’ll get energy out of the pictures.”

You can see more snaps of the rich over HERE – warning, botox abounds.

[sources:telegraph&dougiewallace]