Machu Picchu — City in the Clouds

"Suddenly I was standing in front of the walls of a ruin and houses from the best quality of Inca building art...I found brilliant temples, royal houses, a big square and tens of houses. It looked like a dream."

– Hiram Bingham, on seeing Machu Picchu in 1911

These photographs were taken over a two-day period in May 2012, a century after Hiram Bingham first saw these magnificent ruins in the Peruvian Andes and brought Machu Picchu to the attention of the world. I, too, found Machu Picchu to be dreamlike, especially in the early morning, when fog crept around the ruins and clouds obscured the mountains, partially revealing them for brief moments. I experienced Machu Picchu as a magical place, part fantasy and part real.