Incredible photos give a totally unexpected perspective into how the 1% lives

Paolo Woods & Gabriele Galimberti—INSTITUTE

It's no secret that today the top 1% of the world's population holds 50% of the global wealth, while the bottom 50% holds a mere 1% of the wealth.

Top CEOs in America earn around 350 times as much as the average worker, and in 2015 the 25 highest-paid hedge fund managers were collectively paid $13 billion, which works out to an average of more than $500 million each.

In his book and touring gallery show, "1% Privilege in a Time of Global Inequality," curator and photo editor Myles Little explores this complex issue by showing a collection of work from various photographers. 

"I want people to start a conversation about economic fairness, about our priorities, and about our values as a society," he told Business Insider. "Are we celebrating the right heroes? Are we treating the right people well? Or are our sympathies misguided?" These are the questions he hopes viewers of this show contemplate as they get an exclusive look into the lives of the super rich.

We spoke to Little about the project and how it came together.

Little conceived the idea for the show while on vacation in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he and a fellow curator discussed photography, wealth, and inequality. Little left inspired to begin curating a selection where the three intersected. This image, "Varvara in Her Home Cinema," explores what it's like to grow up as a privileged child in Russia. Little said Skladmann described this image as "a butterfly trying to escape.”

This image is from the series "Removing Mountains", which examines the coal-mining industry's effects on the culture and landscape of Appalachia. Little chose this photo for its ominous tone. It speaks to "the environmental costs of consumption and privilege," he said. "The costs that might be hidden behind a nice tall row of trees, but will, in fact, affect other people down-wind."

"This photograph comes from a diamond mine in Tanzania. Within this series [photographer David] Chancellor also documents impoverished locals who happen to live close to the mine, and who are scrambling all over the rocks to try to get traces of diamond dust or rock," Little said. "I just love this perfect distillation into one frame of high luxury, the environmental costs of mining, and the high-powered violence that can be brought to bear when privilege is questioned.”

Untitled # IV, Mine Security, North Mara Mine, Tanzania, 2011, David Chancellor — kiosk