Melonie Bennet, Girls Night at the Animal House, 1/8, 2002, Inkjet Print, 24 x 33 inches

Every winter we would have a ‘girl’s night’ gathering. Our friend hosted one particular gathering at a home she was house sitting. We arrived to find the owners were obviously African game hunters. Room after room was filled with exotic stuffed animal heads. Flo found a safari hat and a whip made from a water buffalo’s tail. The buffalo’s head was mounted on the wall and its feet formed the base of a lamp, which the owner had donned with a cheap shade that still had the $9.99 sticker on it.

Print shown in HolyCow! 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.

Statement on Works By Melonie Bennett:

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.’ -M.B.

“As photographing my family became more routine, Merritt (my brother) 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.' -M.B.