Bill Owens: "Suburbia"

"Suburbia" by Bill Owens, retrieved from http://www.americansuburbx.com

I chose "Suburbia" by Bill Owens due to the feelings of Americana, nostalgia and familiarity the picture instills. On the surface, this image shows a house with a car, boat, and a family. Due to the size of the house, and style of car, it isn’t a huge leap of logic to guess that we see a middle class family from the ‘60s.  Because the car is loaded up with luggage and a boat, the family is probably posing for a picture before they head out on a vacation.  

While it isn’t really an experimental or technically challenging image, I enjoy looking at how it has captured the essence of a typical American family. Details like the antenna on the roof, the dog, or the manicured lawn reminds me of a sort of “Brady Bunch” era of American history. The parents smile as their three children look a little less interested (perhaps due to the sun or perhaps it’s because they hate posing for pictures).

While this photograph could be replicated today with newer cars, I feel like an image like this isn’t seen anymore. The familiarity stems because it reminds me of my own family vacations when I was younger, but the nostalgia comes because this sort of “typical” American family has faded considerably. The middle class America that this picture represents has shrunk. The recent recession made something like owning a boat or going on vacation a bit harder for families to enjoy. Even nuclear families (which the image depicts) are fewer in number today.

“Suburbia” is an interesting image because it creates a duality of familiar and unfamiliar. As I said before, it would be easy to replicate the photo today, yet I can’t think of the last time my family and I posed for a picture on our way to a vacation. I can’t recall of any families doing that anymore. It captures a piece of the American middle class that might not really exist anymore.