MMPA is proud to present a solo exhibition and new monograph by Melonie Bennett

Holy Cow! is an upcoming book that offers a playful yet poignant journey through 20 years of family photographs taken by Bennett between 1990 and 2011. These black-and-white images form an unconventional family album capturing rituals, traditions, dramas, laughter, gatherings, dogs, and drunken exploits, alongside quieter moments of reprieve. Together, they portray the rollercoaster of human life with honesty and warmth.

August 7 - October 3, 2026.

Opening Reception:
Friday, August 7, 5–8 pm

Artist Talk & Book Signing:
Friday, September 18, 5–8 pm

 Holy Cow!

by Melonie Bennett

‘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.’ - Melonie Bennett

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. Humor 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.

‘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.

FEATURED ARTICLES ON HOLY COW!

CREATIVE BOOM, Written By: Tom May, 31 March, 2026, How Melonie Bennett captured the images everyone else was too drunk to take. The celebrated American photographer spent 20 years shooting her own chaotic family. Her debut monograph is a lesson in finding your subject hiding in plain sight.

LENSCRATCH, By Aline Smithson, May 17, 2026

BLIND, By Guénola Pellen, April 9, 2026, Welcome to the Bennetts, Where Chaos Is a Family Affair A dog in cowboy boots, boys playing cards in bras, a teenager dressed as a cheerleader in his mother’s girdle. Holy Cow! distills twenty years of zany, tender family chronicles from rural Maine.

ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, By Martin Kaninsky, June 7, 2026, Why Melonie Bennett Spent 20 Years Photographing Her Family’s Drunken Parties, Illness, Fights, and Private Moments

Our Christmas Eve ritual was to go to my brother-in-law’s house to help him bring out all of the presents and put them ‘under’ the Christmas tree. The angel was usually struggling to be seen, the tree invisible behind hundreds of gifts stacked around it. Dave tasked himself with placing each present according to size, weight and color in whatever formation he envisioned that year. He took many cigarette breaks to critique his creation and after spending thousands of dollars and countless hours shopping, wrapping and stacking, he pondered it all with anticipation, just as his parents had done for him. He did cut the rule of making his kids eat the tangerines from their stocking before the presents could be opened. - M.B.

Scott and I lived with his sister and three nephews for a few months. We paid his nephew, Robert, to do our laundry. One night, when I came home from work, the boys were all playing an ordinary game of cards at the dining room table. I left the room and when I came back, they were all wearing my bras. What I found most amusing was they had done this as a prank, but became thoroughly engaged in the process. - M.B.

For purchase details, click here

Melonie Bennett was born in 1969 and lives and works in Maine, where she has photographed her family and friends for over three decades. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from the MaineCollege of Art, in 1991. Immediately after graduating, photographer Judy Glickman asked Bennett to help her set up a darkroom. They both worked well together and thirty-five years later they continue to collaborate and support each other's artistic aspirations. Judy’s adventuresome spirit and passion for photography has taken them to many places, meeting many great people along the way. They have always drawn upon the richness of their very different lives for inspiration and that's what has kept them motivated and moving forward all this time. In the years since, Bennett has built a substantial and wide-ranging exhibition history, with her work shown in many exhibitions in the United States and abroad. Her photographs have entered into significant company: images from her series HOLY COW! will appear alongside work by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Dorothea Lange, Sally Mann, Susan Meiselas, and Gordon Parks in the forthcoming major travelling exhibition PRESENCE: The Photography Collection of Judy Glickman Lauder, co-organized by the Portland Museum of Art, Maine, and the American Federation of Arts, New York. HOLY COW! will mark Bennett's first monograph. Bennett's photographs are held in the permanent collections of several respected public institutions, including the following public collections:

• Maine Museum of Photographic Arts, Portland, Maine

• Farnsworth Museum of Art, Rockland, Maine

• Princeton Museum of Art, Princeton, New Jersey

• Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine

• Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine

• Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, Massachusetts

• Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, Maine

• University of New England, Portland, Maine

• University of Maine Museum of Art, Bangor, Maine