"Visual Quotations"

Photographs by Richard Freeman

The Nazca Lines

These are a series of desert drawings on the coast in southern Peru. They are believed to have been created between 400 and 650 AD. Some of the figures are huge (over 600 feet across), and how they were created without a bird’s eye view is quite daunting to think about (never mind “Chariots of the Gods” and all that intriguing rubbish). Even more impressive, is to contemplate how these figures have not been obliterated by the desert sands and winds all these centuries. I was fortunate enough to fly over them in a small plane (and live!). Back then it was only a $20 trip. I only had a 50mm lens on my Leica, and they are not real clear shots. Nevertheless, here are a few that do show some of the figures.

The first three images are of a burial grounds. It appears that several plots had been dug up and put on show for the tourists. The $5 cab ride to get to the plane to fly over the Nazca Lines included a stop at this "site" wether one wanted to go or not. I know it was quite improper, but given the lack of respect already demonstrated, I just couldn't resist re-enacting the scene from Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey" by throwing the bone in the air.