People Create Perspective

Machu Picchu

People create perspective.

We were on a tour of the Incan Valley, including Machu Picchu. The tour included a night at the lodge so we could watch the sun rise over the ruins the next morning. Unfortunately, we were at the end of the rainy season, and morning fog dominated the scene. We had climbed up the terrace steps to the first level, joining the hikers who had also arrived early that morning. I took a lot of photographs that morning, knowing it would be our only chance at something like this, cursing the fog as I tilted the camera down to cut as much of it out as I could.

As I was working the angles, I noticed a young couple sitting on the ledge overlooking the ruins below and changed the camera angle slightly to include them in the corner. I was shooting film in those days, and when I developed the role, I was delighted to find I had achieved my goal – their presence drew my eye in to the photograph and gave a sense of size to the scene below.