Saturday 5 February 2011

Bill Owens


In my last blog I mentioned Bill Owens, one of his stand out projects was Suburbia, a collection of photographs taken in a cul-de-sac in the 1970’s California, these were just ordinary people, living good quality lives; he was able to gain their trust and show an insight and personal aspects of their home life. Last semester we, the photography students, had a couple of talks given by Donovan Wylie, the current fellow at the Bradford Media Museum, showing us environmental portrait photography, one picture of many he showed us was this one, which as he rightly said, not a square inch was wasted, if you were to see this as a snapshot in a family album, you would be really wowed. The use, whether intended or his preferred film, of black and white draws the viewer to look at the content and take in the textures which are incredibly rich, as opposed to being distracted by the colours. I think you’ll agree that this is quite an intimate picture, quite possibly barbequing for Bill as well. And as usual, though maybe a little sexist, the chap driving the BBQ, which to be fair, is a common occurrence when you next peek over you garden fence to see your neighbours having burnt offerings.

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