Fresh from the rain forests of South America, Co-Lin Spanish instructor Linda Royals Flynn is anxious to share the color and contrasts of Peru in a special presentation this Friday.

Flynn will offer a personal look at Peruvian culture called &uot;Picture Peru: A Virtual Adventure&uot; beginning at 11 a.m. in the Lecture Hall in the Tom Reed Academic Center. The 50-minute program will be followed by a reception.

&uot;It will be an informative, fast-moving presentation on Peru’s people, culture, colors and contrasts,&uot; Flynn said.

Recipient of an Earthwatch-Phil Hardin Foundation grant, Flynn spent July 8 through Aug. 8 of this year in South America preserving historic images from glass plate negatives.

As part of the grant project called &uot;the Portrait of Peru,&uot; Flynn helped to scan 9,000 images which were part of a collection made by the Vargas brothers photographers in the early 1900s.

The negatives were chiefly portraits of Peruvian people, similar to the famous Mable Lane collection in Natchez. &uot;My work was a small part of a large effort, which will have lasting impact – specifically in photography and cultural history,&uot; Flynn said. &uot;We are in the process of making a CD of the images and preparing a website so that students can read about the project.&uot;

Flynn’s portion of the project was only two weeks, but she extended her stay by two additional weeks to see more of the Spanish speaking countryside.

The program is part of Co-Lin’s celebration of the Mississippi Humanities Council’s Arts and Humanities Month in October.