To Have and Have Not - The world of the 1%
Anyone who seeks a better understanding of the causes of the present economic crisis must look particularly at the world of the 1 percent. The exhibition To Have and Have Not lifts the lid on the hidden world of money and power.
Since the economic crisis began in 2008 we have become much more aware of the inherent problems in our financial and political system. Thanks to twenty years of deregulation, with the aid of the political system those who have come to be called the “1 percent” have been able to accumulate unprecedented wealth, at the expense of the 99 percent.
The way this elite – who believe they are beyond accountability – live and think is exposed in the work of about twenty photographers from all around the world.
With To Have and Have Not Noorderlicht posed a challenge to photographers. Access to the 1 per- cent is limited – one of the reasons why previously photographers were more likely to be found with the Occupy movement or with the victims of the crisis. But more important, the elements of the sto- ry are to a great extent abstract: ideas, ideologies, regulations and deregulation, power structures, complex financial products and greed – and it is in part through the elusive nature of these elements that things were able to get out of hand in the first place. To Have and Have Not investigates how the intangible can be made visible.