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Peru: Miss Photogenic Country?

Can countries be photogenic? Here’s why I ask: I love taking pictures, but certainly wouldn’t consider myself a good photographer by any means - I know nothing about lighting, shutter-speeds, or aperture settings and I usually just play with the buttons on my digital camera until the photos I take start looking nice on the display screen. Yet I was consistently able to take good photos during my trip to Peru. Subsequent trips revealed that it didn’t have anything to do with me, so the only way I can explain it is to point the finger at Peru itself. I’ve basically concluded that certain countries are just more photogenic than others - and that in the world of landscape and people photography Peru must be a reigning supermodel. Check out some of the amateur photos I took while visiting the country:

That poor chicken was this girl’s favourite toy - every time he tried to escape she’d go pick him right back up. The string tied to his right foot made escape impossible. This girl lives on the island of Amantanes - one of the larger Islands on Lake Titicaca.

…blue archway inside the Santa Catalina convent in Arequipa…

…a tree covered in jungle-moss taken mid-day on steep slopes that straddle the Inca Trail 3 days in from Ollantaytambo.

This massive glacier on Mount Ausangate would make low crackling rumbles about every 2-3 minutes.

These two young girls met us out in the middle of nowhere, 2 days walk out from Tinki.

The two girls were with an older man and a young boy (above), and they brought us some kind of a root vegetable resembling potatoes. We cooked everything up and shared the food. When I offered them vitamins and cough medicine in return, the old man started crying. I didn’t really know what to do to comfort him, but realized this kind of medicine probably meant far more to him than I could imagine, so I gave him everything I had with me. Made me wish I had taken more.

And here is the refuge we all ate in. In the background are semi-wild alpaca grazing on the plateau with Ausangate towering in the background (alpaca are like lamas but with cute bunny-rabbit faces)

Above the clouds in the early misty morning…

…some impressive stonework at the ruins of Saqsaywuaman located just above Cusco (which you can see a bit of in the background).

Ok- I know - you’ve seen it a million times already - it’s just that Machu Picchu is probably the most incredible place I’ve ever been to, and it doesn’t seem right not to include it (plus I really lucked out here - for a brief moment Huayna Picchu was under cloud cover while the ruins themselves were still in full sunshine). To make up for it, here’s a less-seen angle of Machu Picchu looking out from the ruins:

So I know you serious photographers will see all the little flaws, and that’s good - the point is that it didn’t take any real know-how to get these. Imagine what a little bit of talent would do in this glorious country! Photogenic Peru indeed!