Machu Picchu Book
Amazing Machu Picchu is a sacred ruins site in the Andes of Peru near Cusco, built by the Inca more that 500 years ago. Today, this majestic citadel has become one of the great archeological and spiritual wonders of the world.
The new photography book “STONE OFFERINGS Machu Picchu’s Terraces of Enlightenment” is a beautiful coffee table book with more than 100 breathtaking pictures of Machu Picchu for those who want to see both its architecture and spiritual power with hardly any visitors evident. STONE OFFERINGS includes a photographic map and index, description of major points of interest and a powerful introduction by the Peruvian born author Marie Arana that appears in both English and Spanish! The Author’s Note reveals how architectural photographer Mike Torrey managed to capture Machu Picchu’s singular beauty at both the June and December solstices.
Site Overview
Sitting at an elevation of 8,000 feet, Peru’s famed walled city soars nearly 2,000 feet above the Urabamba River below. Divided into two main areas — an urban sector where the Inca lived, and an agricultural sector where they grew their food on terraces — Machu Picchu brings the human and natural environments together into a well-designed and visually cohesive whole. Travelers who explore its lofty terraces have access to this powerful experience and you can also see it now in STONE OFFERINGS.
Built in less than 100 years without the use of wheels or iron tools, Machu Picchu reveals the Inca as gifted engineers, urban planners, builders, and astronomers. Many of the terrace walls are 60 percent under-ground in order to maintain structural integrity. A series of 16 fountains fed by a man-made aqueduct system follow the terraces downward through the urban area that supplies potable water to its inhabitants. The Temple of the Sun marks the arrival of the June solstice through its eastern window by aligning the first rays of sun to its carved stone floor. Machu Picchu is in many ways like a university where the study of both earth and sky led its creators to build an artistic and technological masterpiece.
Although archeologists have made many impressive discoveries here, much still remains a mystery about Machu Picchu. Had the Spanish conquistadors ever set foot in this Andean sanctuary, history suggests that many of its important ceremonial spaces would have been destroyed. As it turns out, the Inca civilization fell to disease as well as Spanish domination and Machu Picchu was left to the encroaching forest that surrounded it. In 1911, Yale University professor Hiram Bingham discovered the city completely overgrown and brought it to the world’s attention after nearly 400 years.
Book Summary
Through the pages of STONE OFFERINGS, the reader can experience Machu Picchu’s inter-locking pieces: how the mist wraps around jungle peaks and stone fits perfectly against stone. With thousands of tourists each day, these remarkable images allow you to see Machu Picchu as if you are the only person there.
In creating these images, the photographer followed three simple rules:
- Capture images without all the tourists (to whatever extent possible)
- Never ask anyone to move out of the way (the integrity of their experience was no less important than his own)
- Focus on what Machu Picchu was revealing in the moment
Despite nearly two thousand visitors to Machu Picchu each day, no people, signs, or protective barriers were removed through retouching of these images. Many times, a split second between when one person or group was leaving and another entered was all that was needed in order to capture images without people. In some images, if you look closely, you can see the top of a person’s head or even a group of people in the distance. By working with the available light and shadows and careful composition of each picture, the experience of being at Machu Picchu all by yourself comes through.
A passionate and sweeping introduction to the book by Marie Arana reveals the inspirational essence of this architectural and archeological wonder of the world. Sharing her own personal history as well as that of the Incan sanctuary, readers learn about Machu Picchu’s complicated history and how this only adds to the site’s mystique.
There is a photographic map and description of points of interest at the back of the book, as well as an index of the 107 photographs. STONE OFFERINGS Machu Picchu’s Terraces of Enlightenment is a great gift book for anyone who is planning on going, has already been or simply wants a comprehensive and beautiful experience of Machu Picchu even if they never make it themselves.
