Holy Cow!

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.

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.