Antelope Cave Art, Drakensberg Range, South Africa, 2001

For the ancient San, or Bushmen, rock paintings, like this cave drawing of an eland in South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains, weren't just representations of life; they were also repositories of it. When the San painted an antelope, he didn't just pay homage to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Paintings of the Spirit: Rock Art Opens a New Window Into a Bushman World," February 2001, National Geographic magazine)

在南非德拉肯斯堡山脉的山洞里有一幅大羚羊的壁画，对于古时的闪族人或者布须曼人来说，在石壁上绘画不仅是对生命的描绘，同时他们也将其视为自己的珍宝。当闪族人画一幅羚羊的时候，他们不仅是在对神兽表达一种敬意，同时他们已经驾驭了其本质所在。