I never thought I would write a sentence like this in a blog post, but here goes.

Spoilers for season 1 and episode 6 specifically of the Apple+ TV series Silo.

I am not a TV critic and I do not play one on TV. I watch TV and movies to be entertained. I want to Feel something when I am watching. Beautiful visuals and emotional stories.

I am late getting to Apple+ TV and the many offerings they have there. I am mostly starting with the programs that have been recommended by podcasters I listen to on Bald Move who do talk about TV and Movies for a living.

One such show is Silo. I haven’t watched the whole thing yet, but Silo seems to be a post apocalyptic world where everyone lives underground in a self contained Silo. There is no contact with the outside world. Everything outside of the Silo appears to be destroyed. Much of what we consider modern technology and our current ways of life no longer exist.

What remains are hard to find and secret “Relics” that predate the Silo. They are coveted and jealously guarded. Relics are often confiscated to “keep the peace”.

In episode 6 the main character, Juliette, uncovers a special relic during an investigation. The relic is a book. Not just any book. It is a photography book.

The book appears to contain photography of the area from before the times of the Silo. Showing beautiful scenic areas before the world outside was destroyed. Forest and beaches and other landscapes.

This photography was so cherished that it was passed down from generations and kept secret at great personal risk to those who held it.

When the main character opens this book for the first time and sees the photography, the actor does such an amazing job of portraying a sense of wonder and awe. This person has never seen a world that looks like this. They didn’t even know the world could look like this.

There is another character in this story as well. They have scene this book before, but we don’t know it at the time. They are portrayed as having hallucinations of beautiful scenery that doesn’t actually exist. These are scenes from the book. And what we learn is that she is desperately clinging to these photographs as all she has in a dire situation. All she wants is to see the photographs of the world as it was.

Think about that. Your work could be the one thing keeping someone going. They saw that inspiring photo you took. They are thinking about it right now. They are using it to help them get through a trying time. You can do that. Art can do that.

Imagine your photography having an impact like that on someone. Maybe there is someone who has never seen the type of beauty you are capturing in your photography. Then they see one of your images on the internet or in a book. They are captivated by this sense of awe. Real and true awe.

That particular scene of the first look at a book portraying a natural world that no one knew existed will stay with me for a long time. That is the kind of impact I strive to make with my photography. I don’t know if that is possible, but that is the goal. Create work that would be kept secret and passed down for generations if the world we know was destroyed.

The power of photography is evident in this scene. This is the power we have with our cameras.

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