I find a sense of freedom in the suburbs.
1972
Bill Owens
Artist, American, born 1938
Artwork overview
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Medium
gelatin silver print
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Credit Line
Anonymous Gift in honor of Sarah Greenough and Andrea Nelson
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Dimensions
image: 21.8 × 16.7 cm (8 9/16 × 6 9/16 in.)
sheet: 24.2 × 18.2 cm (9 1/2 × 7 3/16 in.) -
Accession Number
2023.148.7
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Series Title
Suburbia
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
(Richard Moore Photographs, Oakland, CA); Private collection, New York, 2018; gift to NGA, 2023.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
2025
The '70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, October 6, 2024–April 6, 2025
Inscriptions
on verso, signed by artist, upper center in graphite: Bill Owens; on recto, by artist, lower left below image in blue ink: TOP BLEEDS / OFF PAGE / LEAVE TRIM AS NOTED; lower center: #25 [circled] 82.5% [crossed out] 85%; on verso, top center stamped in red ink: © PHOTO - BILL OWENS / USE OF ABOVE CREDIT LINE / IS MANDATORY.; upper center printed in black ink on applied paper: I find a sense of freedom in / the suburbs. You assume the / mask of suburbia for outward / appearances and yet no one / knows what you really do.; upper right illegible printing notes in graphite; center Bill Owens stamp in black ink perpendicular; lower center stamped in black ink inverted: © PHOTO - BILL OWENS / USE OF ABOVE CREDIT LINE / IS MANDATORY.; by unknown hand, lower center in blue pencil: Pg 25; lower right in black ink: 85% / 11-191; bottom left in graphite: C0730