Black and white photo of a tree in a park
Pick a Word,  Themed galleries

Gallery: pick a word (July 2023)

July 28, 2023 / 30 Comments

It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.

Anais Nin

And it isn’t just a writer who has the power to ‘shake up a familiar scene’, the painter and the photographer can do the same. Through their eyes we often discover something anew even though we may have seen a similar scene many times before.

But of course what is familiar to one person may seem strange to another. One of the pleasures of blogging comes in connecting with others who write about, and share photos of, places familiar to them but new and fresh to those who follow their posts. My first photo for this month’s Pick a Word challenge from Paula may do just that. I’ve shared shots of our local park many times before and what could be more familiar to me than that? However despite those earlier shared images, maybe it is a less familiar scene for some of you.

My selection this month will take you from Cambridge in England, to Norway and on to Oman, Nepal and Vietnam. As always I haven’t stuck only to Paula’s five words, as I like to tell you a little bit about each photo. However I do try to be more succinct for this challenge than for most of my posts!

FAMILIAR

Old tree framing a view of a park

Walpole Park, Ealing, in the spring

This is my local park, just five minutes’ walk from home. It’s our familiar route to the shops, a favourite spot for photography, and in Covid lockdowns was the haven where we took our permitted daily walk.

SELECTED

Three men in Arab dress in a gun shop

In Nizwa, Oman

This man appears to have selected his weapon of choice in this gun shop in Nizwa, although I didn’t hang around long enough to see him make his purchase. I wouldn’t want to annoy a man with a rifle in his hands!

NAUTICAL

Man in a cap looking out of a small window on a boat

The captain of the Hermes II, Tromsø, Norway

One afternoon during my recent visit to Tromsø for the Virtual Tourist meeting we all went on a trip around the island in the Hermes II. It was rather chilly but a great way to see the local landscapes and some wildlife, including a couple of sea eagles.

REFRACTION

Partial rainbow over the sea, seen from a beach

Rainbow at Druridge Bay, Northumberland

We usually spend the New Year holiday in Newcastle and this beach is our go-to place for a walk on New Year’s Day, to blow away the cobwebs of the night before. This photo was taken on the first of January this year. The weather had been dull but the sky started to brighten just before we left. However it must have been raining out to sea, creating this beautiful partial rainbow.

SPLENDID

White marble dome framed by trees

The dome of the Taj Mahal, Agra, India

What indeed could be more splendid than the Taj Mahal?! There is possibly no more famous building in the world. I was prepared to be disappointed, for it not to live up to my anticipations. I even half-expected not to be impressed, but of course I was. There’s a reason why the Taj Mahal is so acclaimed after all; it is truly beautiful.

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