2007.09.22: September 22, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Jamaica: Photography: San Luis Obispo Tribune: RPCV Bill Owens got to know the landscape of the Bay Area by working as a photographer for a Livermore newspaper
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2007.09.22: September 22, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Jamaica: Photography: San Luis Obispo Tribune: RPCV Bill Owens got to know the landscape of the Bay Area by working as a photographer for a Livermore newspaper
RPCV Bill Owens got to know the landscape of the Bay Area by working as a photographer for a Livermore newspaper
As a young man, Owens, who turns 69 on Tuesday, had great plans, taking up his camera after a stint in the Peace Corps. “I wanted to change the world,” he said from his non-suburban home in Hayward during a telephone interview. “I wanted to be an artist,” he continued, but it didn’t pay the bills. “It’s crazy to be any kind of an artist, period,” he added. So he sold most of his equipment in 1982 and tucked his photos away for nearly 10 years, until a friend persuaded him to bring them back into the public eye. But what didn’t pay off financially in those lean years has paid off in respect. His photographs have been linked aesthetically to those of documentary photographer Diane Arbus as well as to Raymond Carver’s short stories and Edward Hopper’s paintings.
RPCV Bill Owens got to know the landscape of the Bay Area by working as a photographer for a Livermore newspaper
A slice of suburban life
Bill Owens got to know the landscape of the Bay Area by working as a photographer for a Livermore newspaper. The result was the acclaimed ‘Suburbia’
By Lee Sutter
Astride a tricycle, a scowling boy with a buzz haircut totes a toy rifle. A living room decked out for Christmas, with Ronald Reagan on the television screen. A mother spoon-feeding her baby on a kitchen counter, huge power lines visible through the back window. Everyday scenes.
These images and dozens more make up “Suburbia,” the early 1970s photographs and book of the same name by Bill Owens, whose work influenced a generation of photographers. The show, chronicling suburban life three decades ago in the Bay Area, opened last night at Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery.
Changing the world
As a young man, Owens, who turns 69 on Tuesday, had great plans, taking up his camera after a stint in the Peace Corps.
“I wanted to change the world,” he said from his non-suburban home in Hayward during a telephone interview. “I wanted to be an artist,” he continued, but it didn’t pay the bills.
“It’s crazy to be any kind of an artist, period,” he added.
So he sold most of his equipment in 1982 and tucked his photos away for nearly 10 years, until a friend persuaded him to bring them back into the public eye.
But what didn’t pay off financially in those lean years has paid off in respect. His photographs have been linked aesthetically to those of documentary photographer Diane Arbus as well as to Raymond Carver’s short stories and Edward Hopper’s paintings.
“I love Hopper,” Owens said. “I’m looking at a Hopper right now.” He believes, however, while the famous American painter and printmaker’s works portrayed the alienation of people, Owens’ photos demonstrate their unity.
Owens recalled seeing one of Hopper’s paintings some time ago and saying “Oh my God, this guy ripped me off.” Then he realized Hopper’s work was from 1926.
Learning disabilities
Owens never studied art and got a C in the only photography class he ever took. A dyslexic with attention deficit disorder, he did poorly in school long before either condition was identified as a learning problem.
But, Owens said, his family helped him overcome those obstacles. “My parents loved me,” he added. “If you’ve got that going for you, you’ve got it made.”
As a photojournalist for a newspaper in Livermore, where his “Suburbia” photos were shot, he was able to explore the community and meet and appreciate the residents, an opportunity he still treasures.
He later started microbreweries but has relinquished the business. “It’s a young man’s gig,” he said. Yet he remains fully engaged.
An American quest
He has just returned from what he termed “an epic journey across America,” traveling 21,000 miles in four months. On his trip, he observed “the homogenization of urban lifestyle,” primarily through franchise businesses at seemingly every highway or freeway exit.
Along the way, he was invited to stay with a number of strangers, which gave him a chance to “see the real America, people from all walks of life.”
Owens is also working on his memoirs, doing book tours, giving talks, making short humorous films and is considering opening a small distillery school. Plus, as president of the American Distilling Institute, he enjoys meeting entrepreneurs who share his passion for micro-breweries.
“It’s more fun than photography,” he said.
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Headlines: September, 2007; RPCV Bill Owens (Jamaica) ; Figures; Peace Corps Jamaica; Directory of Jamaica RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Jamaica RPCVs; Photography
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Story Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Jamaica; Photography
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