Fujifilm X-T2, Landscape, Poetry
by Patrick Jennings

Context ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #80

Beach Cows, The Ganga Banks, (Ganges River), Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India copy
To understand
And embrace
Paradox

I recognize
The limits
Set by context

Which, I’ve learned
Confines me
Not reality

Beach Cows
The Ganga Banks
(Ganges River)
Rishikesh
Uttarakhand, India

Taken during travels, 2017

In rural North America, where I grew up, cows are symbolic of bucolic, pastoral farm life. So a scene including cows on a city beach — like a mother basking in the sun while her children play — or munching on garbage in urban streets, might seem contradictory to the nature of a cow. But in the context of a cow’s sacred life in India, where they roam freely and and are fed by the population in ad-hoc ritual, that changes things.

Last week we got up for Sunrise. This week? Let’s mess around with Context — find the limits of one, or bend fold and mutilate a context — or seek something else to inspire your creativity in this photograph of a cows basking and frolicking on a Ganges River beach in Rishikesh, India.

The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.

Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.

To participate:

  • Use any title you like
  • Your response can be words and/or an image
  • You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
  • Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
  • Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
  • Add a link to this post in your response

To help us find your response — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:

  • Add a comment on this post to announce your response
  • Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge to your post

Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.

Last week’s challenge: Sunrise

Himalaya Foothills Sunrise V, Kunjapuri Devi Temple, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
Challenge #79 ~ Sunrise
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #79 was Sunrise, along with this photograph of Himalayan foothills under a golden sky in Rishikesh, India.

Five glorious sunrises this week. Thanks everyone! =)

View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.