1963 Nasca (Nazca) geoglyphs, Peru desert. The desert surface is covered by a layer of dark stones lying on top of fine yellow sediment left by an ancient alluvial deposit. The markings were made by simply moving the stones to one side as on a giant scraper board. In places the surface is so fragile that even footsteps show.

About 25kms from Nasca town, the Panamerican highway seen on the right of the picture climbs from the Ingenio valley to the Pampa de San Jose. This part of the desert is covered by a mass of trapezoids, spirals, straight lines and drawings. 1963 saw the greatest damage to the ancient markings when road builders took huge quantities of stones from the desert. In the bottom right of the picture is a small bar cafe with a compound for the construction machinery.The white path across the picture is a dirt road leading to the Nasca river valley, about 14 kms away.

Camera: MPP Microflex Twin Lens Reflex with F3.5 77.5mm Taylor Taylor Hobson lens. Film Kodak Verichrome Pan at F5.6 - 1/300 second with a 3 x orange filter (Actina) to increase the contrast between the stones and the yellow sediment. Developed by hand in Lima using Kodak Microdol at normal dilution.

Negative Peru 63-45-11 © Tony Morrison