Nonesuch Silver Prints 1963 Early black and white photographs of the Nasca lines, Peru markings, Nasca (Nazca) Peru

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 will show.

Two low hills 6 kms from Nasca town. In 1963 I was looking for Maria Reiche on the desert and flying at about 200 metres spotted her standing by her pick-up truck here to the left side of the picture. This small complex of clearings, straight paths and hills included the whale-like design which Maria was studying. Other features in this picture are car tracks leading to the hills, several small enclosures, pockmarks left by local treasure hunters and alluvial fans.

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.