You’ve seen the romantic Dolores and Teddy photo series by Elijah. Now meet the photographer who brought this passion project to life–Westworld mega fan, Eliza Roemisch.
In a previous article, I featured an impressive series of photos done by Westworld super fan, Elijah. He and I spoke about the details behind this passion project, and in the article, I told all you lovely fans that I’d be speaking to the photographer who captured those moments. Thanks to Elijah, the introduction was made and here we are!
Aside from her obvious talent as a photographer, Eliza makes quite the prop master. She was responsible for making a replica of the evaporated milk can and maze box for the shoot. She also worked on all the post-production for the photos. One photo, in particular, took quite a bit of magic. You’ll see it a little further into the article.
I asked Eliza what inspired her to work on this project with Elijah and she said he was her muse. She admitted she had never heard of Westworld… Whoa, whoa! Everyone just calm down for a minute. Some people haven’t seen or heard of the show, and that’s ok. There’s a happy ending to this story, so please put away your memes and read on.
Eliza then binge watched the first season and also the second season episodes that had aired the week before taking the pictures. “I was hooked!” she says. See guys? Happy ending! Eliza was definitely inspired by Dolores’ complex narrative and her relationship with Teddy. She added that the California landscape they took the pictures in really helped set the mood.
Now that she’s hooked, I asked her to tell me what she loves most about the show. Eliza said that every episode makes you rethink and reprocess what you know. She also loves the thematic idea that gaining consciousness often means losing your innocence. “Visually, it’s stunning and I am enamored with the idea of each character having a color scheme,” she added.
The focus for their shoots is casual cosplay so it’s really been all about the details for them. She enjoys the challenge of communicating a character without a complete head-to-toe costuming being involved. For both Dolores and Teddy, it was about posing them in a way that added tension and emotion to still images. The props Eliza made are the little details that add to the sense of authenticity.
As someone who has done her fair share of photo shoots, I know there are moments of hilarity that inevitably ensue. I asked Eliza if she would share a funny moment with us. She said that she really, really layered model Haylie’s outfits so she could change looks while being outdoors. It’s not like there are changing rooms out there.
Trying to navigate and hike through trails in petticoats, khakis, and layers of clothing was entertaining to them all, as well as to some bystanders. “We got asked multiple times if I was taking their engagement shots!” says Eliza. “Which just goes to show how well Haylie and Elijah can act like they have the same sheer chemistry Dolores and Teddy have.”
These photos are all outstanding but I had to ask Eliza what her personal favorite was and why. She said her number one favorite was the finale shot of Teddy and Delores by the riverbank. Not only because of the emotion involved but mostly because she recreated almost all of it in post-production. As you can see below, it’s a remarkable transformation. Nailed it!
Eliza said she’s been taking photos for as long as she can remember. Her grandmother was an amateur photographer and she’s still shooting on her grandmother’s old camera. Her newfound passion is cosplay photography. Eliza has been a Doctor Who cosplayer for a while and capturing others’ creations is the perfect next step. Or in this case, helping to create it, style it and shoot it.
As for future projects, she wants to do more Westworld photography. And when season 3 is released she hopes to explore a new set of characters and they’re relationships. “… maybe a gender bend Maeve and Dolores,” she adds. I, for one, think that’ be would be really cool to see done!
Eliza and Elijah have recently completed a Superman and Super Girl shoot she said was quite a lot of fun to photograph. In the months ahead, Eliza says Elijah has a bunch of casual cosplay projects she’ll be photographing. She’s most excited for the Star Wars and Friday the 13th shoots.
You can see more of Eliza’s photography on her Instagram account and on Elijah’s Instagram as well. Her design work can be seen on her other Instagram account here. And please check out the post with the photo series to see more pictures not included in this article – including the milk can prop.
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Westworld returns with Season 3 in 2020 (or sooner – we hope)!