If these walls could talk – Machu Picchu photo essay
Before I got to Machu Picchu, Peru, I knew I wanted to keep people out of most of my photos. Including people in travel photos can deliver a sense of scale, time, place, or emotion. But, at a world wonder like Machu Picchu, almost all the people that are around are tourists, clumped in herds; guards, whistles at the ready to warn a tourist off a fragile wall; or us, mud-spattered and feeling less than photogenic.
With the rain, composing my travel photos to be tourist-free was almost too easy. It was keeping the lens dry that was hard.
(Todd, who doesn’t take many pictures beyond source material for his travel art, did catch one of me that I like. You’ll have to make it to the end of this photo essay for that one.)
![Two through the window, Machu Picchu, Peru Two through the window, Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/two-through-the-window-machu-picchu-peru-404x550.jpg)
Two through the window at Machu Picchu
![Three windows, Machu Picchu, Peru Three windows, Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/three-windows-machu-picchu-peru-550x413.jpg)
Three windows at Machu Picchu
![Scraping lichen, Mchu Picchu, Peru Scraping lichen, Mchu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/scraping-lichen-machu-picchu-peru-410x550.jpg)
Scraping lichen at Machu Picchu
![Layers of walls and grass, Machu Picchu, Peru Layers of walls and grass, Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/layers-walls-grass-machu-picchu-peru-412x550.jpg)
Layers of walls and grass, Machu Picchu
![Peaked walls and mountain peak, Machu Picchu, Peru Peaked walls and mountain peak, Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/peaked-walls-mountain-machu-picchu-peru-550x309.jpg)
Peaked walls and mountain peak at Machu Picchu
![Angled walls of Machu Picchu, Peru Angled walls of Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/angled-walls-machu-picchu-peru-412x550.jpg)
Angled walls of Machu Picchu
![Watching fog come and go, Machu Picchu, Peru Watching fog come and go, Machu Picchu, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/watching-fog-come-and-go-machu-picchu-peru-550x412.jpg)
Watching fog come and go at Machu Picchu