Photo exhibit revisits 1970s Bay Area suburbia

Photo exhibit revisits 1970s Bay Area suburbia

“Ah, the California burbs,” says Plumb, now 62.

Looking at the work being made then about the suburbs, nothing I saw reflected my experience.

Influenced by the work of Robert Frank, Diane Arbus and Hank Wessel, Plumb returned again and again to Walnut Creek and the suburbs of Marin County to explore “my deep sense of connection, as well as extreme ambivalence, to these communities,” she adds.

Plumb recently retired after teaching photography for 28 years at San Jose State University.

With more time on her hands, she revisited and scanned her massive black-and-white Bay Area suburbia body of work, seeing in hindsight “something that was so iconic about the kids, alienation and angst and all.”