Cows: A Rumination

In 2000, photographer Carl Hileman created a traveling exhibit, a gallery of 60 infra-red photographs titled "About Cows." His goal was to draw attention to society’s reliance on a animal it takes for granted. "I wanted to set the cows I photographed apart from the usual comic, even dumb portrayal that we often see,” he says. To find his subjects, Hileman visited small, independent farms where farmers knew their livestock by name. They often told him personal stories about the cows, and those insights determined how he approached and photographed each animal. The quotes Hileman used for COWS: A RUMINATION come from historic figures and modern-day celebrities; some are taken from famous literary works and others were written expressly for this project. The diverse voices in these pages, however, are united in their common theme: respect and affection for the unassuming creature who gives every part of herself in exchange for nothing more than a simple patch of grass and shade from the midday sun. "Cows are critical to human civilization," writes the author. "Meat, hide, and even bone are used for everything from food to medicine, car tires to cosmetics. Yet if we think of them at all, it is usually as stalwart landscape features with little more personality than the proverbial fence post." Contributors who shared their "cow respect" for this book include country music star Tanya Tucker, Blue Dog artist George Rodrigue, Nobel prize-winner Vernon L. Smith, and a host of others, including Groucho Marx, Robert Frost, and Mrs. O'Leary, whose cow was mistakenly blamed for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. By turns witty, bittersweet, and enlightening, COWS: A RUMINATION is a love poem to an often-overlooked and yet so essential member of our society.