Every year I go to my mother-in-law's for thanksgiving and every year I swear I'll never do it again. But I always do, do it again.

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Every year I go to my mother-in-law's for thanksgiving and every year I swear I'll never do it again. But I always do, do it again.
Every year I go to my mother-in-law's for thanksgiving and every year I swear I'll never do it again. But I always do, do it again.
Artist/Maker (American, born 1938)
Date1972, printed 2001
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsSheet: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm) Image: 8 × 10 1/4 in. (20.3 × 26 cm)
Credit LineGift of Thomas J. Wilson and Jill M. Garling, P2016
Object number2024.21.125
Not on view
Collections

Additional Details

Markings Verso, lower right corner (black ink stamp): "© BILL OWENS / EDITION 15/3AP / NUMBER 3 [pencil] / PRINTED 2001 [pencil]"
Published References Illus: Bill Owens: Suburbia, Straight Arrow Books, 1972, unpag.
Bill Owens: Suburbia, fotofolio, 1999, p. 109
Signature Verso, lower right (pencil): "Wm Owens"
Inscribed Verso, lower left corner (pencil): "BO-1692M"
Verso, lower right corner (pencil): "S5 / 109"
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by B…
As long as I can work here I will. It's better than housework. Cauliflower packing is hard work but I don't even think about it. My hands go through the motions, my mind's somewhere else. The season lasts six months, then I pack tomatoes and collect unemployment for the rest of the year., from the series "Working"
Bill Owens
Date: 1975 (printed later)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2018.12.84
The Eagle Squares is one of 100 clubs in the Northern California Square Dancing Association. We called our group Eagle Squares because we used to dance in the Eagles Hall. My wife and I started when some neighbors talked us into taking a beginning square dance class. We found dancing to be good clean fun, something we could do together with little expense involved. Livermore, California.
The Eagle Squares is one of 100 clubs in the Northern California Square Dancing Association. We called our group Eagle Squares because we used to dance in the Eagles Hall. My wife and I started when some neighbors talked us into taking a beginning square dance class. We found dancing to be good clean fun, something we could do together with little expense involved. Livermore, California.
Bill Owens
Date: 1974
Medium: Gelatin silver print, printed later
Object number: 2023.12.66
I've taught several of the Red Cross Child Education courses. They are open to the general public and they are free. It takes courage for people to say I don't know how to take care of a new born infant. In six lessons, I teach them about pregnancy, labor, delivery, nutrition of the mother and newborn, the first week of life, and growth and development in the first year. Most people leave the course with confidence to become effective parents. Tri-Valley Area, Northern California,
I've taught several of the Red Cross Child Education courses. They are open to the general public and they are free. It takes courage for people to say I don't know how to take care of a new born infant. In six lessons, I teach them about pregnancy, labor, delivery, nutrition of the mother and newborn, the first week of life, and growth and development in the first year. Most people leave the course with confidence to become effective parents. Tri-Valley Area, Northern California,
Bill Owens
Date: 1969-75
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2018.12.88
This is the only gold dredge in the continental United States. It operates around the clock, seven days a week, moving three million cubic yards of sand and gravel every year. The dredge makes twenty-five cents per cubic yard and with the depressed gold market somtimes doesn't break even. Tri-Valley Area, Northern California, from the series "Working"
This is the only gold dredge in the continental United States. It operates around the clock, seven days a week, moving three million cubic yards of sand and gravel every year. The dredge makes twenty-five cents per cubic yard and with the depressed gold market somtimes doesn't break even. Tri-Valley Area, Northern California, from the series "Working"
Bill Owens
Date: 1976
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2018.12.97
We're home three weekends a year. Our camper is our real home. Being a member of the National Campers and Hikers Association gives our family the opportunity and the enjoyment of getting out of town every weekend...and to camp with other families.
We're home three weekends a year. Our camper is our real home. Being a member of the National Campers and Hikers Association gives our family the opportunity and the enjoyment of getting out of town every weekend...and to camp with other families.
Bill Owens
Date: 1971, printed 1998
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2024.21.129
The parish priest Ramonet: "I left for the Ile de Sein with a book on Gurdjieff that was supposed to get me back into shape. I barely looked at it. Thanks to Felix Guilcher, a real, lyrical and discreet hero, a rare friend discovered over there, to a Parish Priest, and to all the islanders, more islander than Breton, I soon felt quite at home, something quite unexpected, indeed inconceivable. Happy and calm, I was protected from the distant continent by a superb and pitiless sea. On Sein, I finally told myself "they'll never get me!". I'll never be able to repay my debt to the Sein Islanders for what they gave me
The parish priest Ramonet: "I left for the Ile de Sein with a book on Gurdjieff that was supposed to get me back into shape. I barely looked at it. Thanks to Felix Guilcher, a real, lyrical and discreet hero, a rare friend discovered over there, to a Parish Priest, and to all the islanders, more islander than Breton, I soon felt quite at home, something quite unexpected, indeed inconceivable. Happy and calm, I was protected from the distant continent by a superb and pitiless sea. On Sein, I finally told myself "they'll never get me!". I'll never be able to repay my debt to the Sein Islanders for what they gave me
Jean-Philippe Charbonnier
Date: 1956
Medium: Vintage gelatin silver print
Object number: 2022.15.197
I like working at the shelter workshop. I can be productive and be part of the community. I make money and pay my own way. On my days off I watch TV, ride my bike and write letters to my friends. Someday I'm thinking of getting married.
I like working at the shelter workshop. I can be productive and be part of the community. I make money and pay my own way. On my days off I watch TV, ride my bike and write letters to my friends. Someday I'm thinking of getting married.
Bill Owens
Date: 1975
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2023.12.65
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. For…
As a receptionist in a dentist's office I know that people are often anxious when they come in for a visit, so during the holidays I go all out to decorate the waiting room. I love to see the expression on their faces when they check out our Christmas tree., from the series "Working"
Bill Owens
Date: 1975 (printed later)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2019.18.63
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. Photo by B…
The last thing I did before leaving for San Francisco after my dad died was watch fireworks explode over the St. Louis arch on the Fourth of July. Two days later I crested a hill on Route 80 and saw the expanse of San Francisco Bay for the first time. It was so beautiful I cried. St. Louis, Missouri, from the series "Leisure"
Bill Owens
Date: 1976 (printed later)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2018.12.93
You have to be in good physical condition in the fence business because it's hard work. Everybody in the business is related, either your brother or your cousin works for us or for another fence company. Our product is better than the customer expects. We use the best materials and do the job right., from the series "Working"
You have to be in good physical condition in the fence business because it's hard work. Everybody in the business is related, either your brother or your cousin works for us or for another fence company. Our product is better than the customer expects. We use the best materials and do the job right., from the series "Working"
Bill Owens
Date: 1974-76 (printed later)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2019.18.91
Madman in the straw: "a sinister corridor. From behind heavy doors escape the repulsive groans and sickening odors of the mad vomiters doing a cure of disgust (on cheap wine). Behind the last door, a premature madman, naked in the straw. I photographed him through the thick murky glass of his spyhole, licked again and again, without seeing anything (reflex cameras didn't exist at the time). At 2 am, I finally convince the charming head doctor, worn down by my arguments, to let me take the picture in my own way", Psychiatric hospital
Madman in the straw: "a sinister corridor. From behind heavy doors escape the repulsive groans and sickening odors of the mad vomiters doing a cure of disgust (on cheap wine). Behind the last door, a premature madman, naked in the straw. I photographed him through the thick murky glass of his spyhole, licked again and again, without seeing anything (reflex cameras didn't exist at the time). At 2 am, I finally convince the charming head doctor, worn down by my arguments, to let me take the picture in my own way", Psychiatric hospital
Jean-Philippe Charbonnier
Date: 1954
Medium: Vintage gelatin silver print
Object number: 2022.15.198
I've taught my baton class through all my pregnancies. The exercise has been good for me. I didn't close my baton studio because there'd be forty girls without a teacher.
I've taught my baton class through all my pregnancies. The exercise has been good for me. I didn't close my baton studio because there'd be forty girls without a teacher.
Bill Owens
Date: 1975, printed 1999
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Object number: 2024.21.123