Nonesuch Silver Prints 1963 Early black and white photographs of the Nasca lines, 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 show.

This unusual straight twin path about 6kms from Nasca town leads to a low hill which is a centre for other straight lines.The wide path crossing the picture left to right apparently overlays the twin paths and connects hills near the whale with a dry watercourse out of frame. Its length is 861 metres.

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.