Bob Sherman Photography

"The Garland Cow"

There is a fascinating story connected to this shot which was taken in Varanasi, India in February 1997. When I initially took this shot I was in a boat on the Ganges River. I was wearing Indian clothing and my boat was surrounded by many other boats on the river. My boat was at least 250 yards away from the man in the shot. In essence I was a nothing speck floating on the river. Aside from the composition of the stairs and structures, what attracted me to the shot was the fact that the cow was eating a garland of flowers. When I raised my camera to take the shot the man crossed his hands in front of his face. I was astounded that he even saw me. I lowered my camera and he lowered his hands. We did this dance four times. The fifth time he allowed me to take the shot.
About an hour later I walked along the river near where I took the shot hoping to meet the man. As I approached him he spontaneously said to me, "You know it is quite impolite to take someone's picture without asking them first." I agreed and apologized. We then spent many hours over the next two days talking about the necessity of the the experience of lonliness on one's spiritual path. If you ever get to see the documentary "Baraka" he's the yogi coming out of the Ganges in the movie.