As a photographer, studying art history, especially prehistoric art, is super cool because it teaches me how people used pictures to share stories and feelings long ago, which helps me take better photos. The Lascaux cave paintings, made about 17,000 years ago in France, are a good example of this. These great paintings of animals and hunters on cave walls use bold lines and shapes to show movement, kind of like how I frame action shots or landscapes. A quote from class that sums it up is: “Prehistoric art shows early human creativity and society.” This makes me think about using light and shadows in my photos to tell stories, just like those ancient artists did back then.
Another cool example is the Venus of Willendorf, which is a tiny 11-cm statue from 25,000 years ago, with big hips and breasts that probably was a totem of fertility. In class, we said it shows early humans thinking in symbols and sculptures. This connects with portrait photography, where I try to capture someone’s personality through poses and angles, like the statue’s maker did. I also took a digital media class where we learned how photos can show important stuff, and this ties in with using photography to highlight historical events and moments.
Also, studying prehistoric art connects to today’s world, like how climate change is messing up sites like Lascaux with humidity and erosion. This makes me want to visit those areas and use my camera to take pictures of them to raise awareness, blending art with action, like projects in my digital media class. Prehistoric art shows us how powerful pictures have always been, making it totally worth studying for my photography passion.
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