A Load of Bull

A Load of Bull is a stunning photographic book recording the extraordinary beauty of farm animals—cattle to be precise!

Amanda King grew up in Brisbane, Australia, and like so many young Australasians before her, she eventually headed off on her OE. On her travels, she met a Kiwi farmer and ended up living on a farm in Canterbury, New Zealand, falling head-over-heels in love with country life as well as the farmer!

Photography started off as a favourite hobby—a way to capture unique split-second scenes and make them last a lifetime. Her business really began when she decided to create a large wall print for her own living room. An opportunity arose to photograph a stunning highland cow. The resulting animal print became the focal point of the room and friends started requesting similar pieces.

This inspired her to head out and take photos of other rural animals. That led to a 'hobby' Facebook page. Unexpectedly, and very quickly, people started to respond to the images. Before too long, much to her delight, Amanda found herself with a full-time business on her hands.

In this book, she has collected her favourite prints and arranged them by breed—Angus; Belted Galloway; Bison; Brahman; Charolais; Friesian; Hereford; Highland; Jersey; Limousin; Murray Grey; Red Devon; Shorthorn; Speckle Park; Texas Longhorn; Wagyu; White Galloway; and Zebu.

Amanda also tells brief stories of some of these animals, their personalities, and how the shoot day went. As you may imagine, it's not always entirely straightforward!