We moved up to a nicer house. We thought we'd do better, but the real estate man got us. Closing costs were supposed to be $295 but they turned out to be $750. They have you where they want you-you've already moved into the house.
Portfolio TitleSuburbia
Artist
Bill Owens
(American, born 1938)
Dateca. 1972; printed 1998
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 7 5/16 × 9 7/16 inches (18.57 × 23.97 cm)
Sheet: 8 × 9 15/16 inches (20.32 × 25.24 cm)
Sheet: 8 × 9 15/16 inches (20.32 × 25.24 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert Koch in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Object number2007.54.7
SignedSigned on sheet verso, lower right, in pencil;
Stamped on sheet verso, lower right corner, in black ink: "© BILL OWENS / PUBLISHERS COPY / PRINTED 1998"
Inscribednone
Markingsnone
Edition/State/Proofed. 1/5
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a man and woman holding a cardboard box filled with folded sweaters; the man is wearing gloves and a t-shirt; the woman is wearing a striped sleeveless top with dark pants. A moving truck is parked in the driveway behind them and debris is scattered.Gallery Label
In the early 1970s, Bill Owens became interested in the people he met during his day job as a staff photographer for the local newspaper. On weekends, he photographed dozens of white American middle-class families living in the newly built suburbs of San Francisco’s East Bay. He captioned his photographs with texts excerpted from conversations with his subjects. Though many critics derided suburban living as dull and conformist, Owens’s subjects often speak enthusiastically about the lifestyle they embraced. At times, however, his subjects (including this couple) encountered setbacks as they pursued the American ideal of home ownership.
Copyright© Bill Owens
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is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete.
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please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.
Bill Owens
ca. 1972; printed 1998
2007.54.20
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April 1935
2005.27.4319
Bill Owens
ca. 1972; printed 1998
2007.54.113
Henri Cartier-Bresson
1968-1969
2005.27.1102
Bill Owens
ca. 1972; printed 1998
2007.54.33