Walking through the Tate Student Center, faculty, staff and students alike hurry through the atrium onto their day-to-day activities, concentrating on the lobby at the end of the tunnel.

For one month, however, students stopped to stare at 40 historic photos of Machu Picchu, the lost Incan city discovered and photographed by Hiram Bingham.

Original photos show 15th-century Incan ruins, nestled on a small hill within the Andean Mountain Range. Rivers snake through the half-built homes in black-and-white-charm, showing churches and indigenous Peruvians.

Kamran Mohammed, a senior mass media arts major from Augusta said the portraits in particular fascinated him. He admitted he had stopped in the hall to admire the photos, squinted to read the captions and learned more about Peruvian culture.

Mohammed said because the University has low diversity among the student body, educational international events such as the Machu Picchu exhibit, are vital.

“It’s nice that the student body is working towards more diversity,” he said. “Because UGA isn’t high in diversity, these types of events are important.”

The Consulate General of Peru in Atlanta brought The National Geographic exhibit to the University in a short window after a visit to Kennesaw State University last semester. Next, the collection is traveling to Texas.

The photos from Bingham’s 1911-1915 expeditions were the first images of the ancient Incan city seen by the outside world. Bingham, then a Latin American history professor at Yale University, traveled to Peru searching for “the lost city.” He paid a guide to take him on the six-day journey to Machu Picchu.

After discovering the city, Bingham led further expeditions there to clear forest from the area, displaying the ancient stone beneath. Machu Picchu is now regarded as one of the seven man-made wonders of the world.

To experience Peruvian culture, students don’t need to hike to Machu Picchu, explained Paul Duncan, Assistant Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute. They just need to step off-campus.

In Athens-Clarke County, Peruvian culture greatly influences local entertainment and food.

Cali-N-Tito’s offers Peruvian food every night, drawing on its owner’s Peruvian culture. Students have the opportunity to bailar downtown, learning dances with Peruvian inspiration at local salsa nights.

Duncan said the exhibit was another opportunity to showcase Athens’s Peruvian culture and to educate students about historic sites.

“The LACSI is always looking for ways to educate the UGA students about other cultures,” Duncan said.

Jorge García-Granados, a University Spanish professor from Peru, said seeing the photos was a great experience for his students, but also for the Athens Peruvian community, which gathered at the reception.

After entering past the red ropes, community members returned to their home country, speaking Spanish in fast, hushed tones and drinking pisco, a traditional grape brandy produced in both Chile and Peru.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to show the Peruvian culture,”  García-Granados said.

Photos are on display from Jan. 9 to Jan. 24 in the Tate 2 atrium.

Want to learn more about LACSI? Contact Paul Duncan at pduncan@uga.edu