 He studied visual anthropology at San Francisco State College, dropped out and went on an around-the-world hitchhiking trip before finishing his education at Chico State College.He served in the Peace Corps in Jamaica and, upon returning to the USA, lived and worked in the town of Livermore in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a staff photographer for a local newspaper.In 1973, Owens released the book "Suburbia," whose pictures showed American suburban life in Livermore.