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Holy Cow!

Holy Cow!

by Melonie Bennett

$55.00
$55.00
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Pre-order. Expected May 2026.

‘This collection of photographs presents the world I know—the complicated, mad world that includes my father, mother, brother, sister, friends, dogs, babies, extended families and the stuff of life. There are no pictures of the land, only the landscape where they set themselves loose and live with their pleasures and troubles, and with themselves and each other.’

More about this book

Holy Cow! is a romp through 20 years of family photographs by Melonie Bennett. The black and white images in this unconventional family album were made between 1990-2011. They depict the rituals, traditions, dramas, laughter, gatherings, the dogs and the drunken exploits alongside quieter moments of reprieve—they show the rollercoaster of human life. 

‘In high school, I was shy and naive. When my father spread manure in fields that bordered classmates’ homes, I wanted to be invisible. Being the oldest, I thought I had to behave. I never dared to party or skip school. It wasn’t even an option. My siblings sure made up for it—they were wild. But I found my groove. I took a high school darkroom class, at the same time that I took on the role as the designated driver for family and friends to parties. This gave me the license to observe and take pictures of what other people, including my family were doing. And I didn’t have to drink! What a gift from God.’

Bennett and her siblings grew up on a dairy farm and although the family lived under constant stress, they coped by laughing, eating, fighting then talking and pretending everything was okay. She has always been drawn to photograph the absurd and unexpected—a dog wearing cowboy boots, boys playing cards in bras, going home at 2am after a moose hunt, college kids streaking through the farmland and the juxtaposition of pregnant and beer bellies. Humour and irony were highly prized in the Bennett household, giving relief from a daunting heaviness. Intertwined with the photographs are recollections and stories by the photographer’s brother, Merritt.

‘As photographing my family became more routine, Merritt thought it would be clever to start gifting me a single, unwrapped roll of film on these occasions. He would just laugh and say ‘that’s all you’re getting’—mocking me, my picture-taking and loving the ribbing he was doling out. But in fact, each time he had spent six bucks on me and had to make the effort to shop—this proved he loved me, right? I told him he should save his money and write down his stories as my gifts instead.'

Published May 2026
233x 280mm
176 pages, 66 images
Hardback
ISBN 978-1-915423-69-6

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From the author

  • Melonie Bennett (1969) lives and works in Maine. She graduated from Maine College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Degree in Photography and began work as assistant to the photographer Judy Glickman Lauder in 1991. Bennett’s own work has been included in more than sixty exhibitions across the US and internationally. Photographs from 'Holy Cow!' appear alongside work by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Dorothea Lange, Sally Mann, Susan Meiselas and Gordon Parks amongst others in the forthcoming major travelling exhibition 'PRESENCE: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder' co-organised by the Portland Museum of Art, Maine, and the American Federation of Arts, New York. 'Holy Cow!' will be Bennett’s first monograph.

  • ‘In high school, I was shy and naive. When my father spread manure in fields that bordered classmates’ homes, I wanted to be invisible. Being the oldest, I thought I had to behave. I never dared to party or skip school. It wasn’t even an option. My siblings sure made up for it—they were wild. But I found my groove. I took a high school darkroom class, at the same time that I took on the role as the designated driver for family and friends to parties. This gave me the license to observe and take pictures of what other people, including my family were doing. And I didn’t have to drink! What a gift from God.’

    - Melonie Bennett