Sharing a bit of Peru

Architectural photographer Mike Torrey will return to his Balboa Island roots when he makes an appearance at Martha’s Bookstore on Saturday to sign copies of his new book about Machu Picchu.

His parents had a summer home on Balboa Island, where he spent summers as a boy. He remembers paddleboarding in Newport Harbor and the legendary Larry the Lifeguard, who was a long-distance paddleboarder and fixture of Balboa Island for decades.

Larry the Lifeguard used to set up a projector and show 16-millimeter movies in the middle of one of the island streets on summer nights, Torrey remembers.

Torrey’s parents also own the land where Martha’s Bookstore sits today.

His mother, Margaret Torrey, still lives on Balboa Island.

“It’s a very special place to live,” she said. “Everyone is so friendly. We love it.”

Margaret Torrey remembers putting her son to work to clean up the property during the summer months on Marine Avenue where Martha’s now sits. The family, who has owned the spot since 1963, would rent part of the building out to UC Irvine students in the fall and vacationers in the summer.

Mike Torrey’s new book, “Stone Offerings: Machu Picchu’s Terraces of Enlightenment,” includes more than 100 photographs of Machu Picchu taken at both the summer and winter solstices.

For the book, Torrey made two trips to Peru to photograph the pre-Colombian ruins in both the summer and winter.

“[The Incas] put this big city in the middle of this beautiful natural environment, and something about the place catches you off guard,” Torrey said. “It just feels like it works. I was struck by [the idea] that there should be an interaction in what we build and the surroundings.”

Torrey would spend 10 to 12 hours a day at the ancient Incan city to capture the site without including the hoards of tourists who descend upon it each day.

“I wanted to photograph it like I was the only one there, but there’s a couple of thousand people there a day,” Torrey said. “Sometimes it would just take a second, and suddenly, for a hot second, there was nobody in the picture. I wanted to have more of a singular experience there, and that’s how I experienced it.”

Margaret Torrey is proud of her son’s new book, she said.

“I think it’s beautiful, a perfect job, but he’s a perfectionist,” she said. “You always like to see your children happy with their work.”

If You Go

Who: Architectural photographer Mike Torrey will sign copies of “Stone Offerings”

Where: Martha’s Bookstore, 308 Marine St., Newport Beach

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Information: www.stoneofferings.com