Elaine Siemek on Single-Handedly Fueling The Netflix Original Outer Banks Fanbase Through Film Photography

Written By: Mia Linder, Editorial & Partnerships Director

Elaine Siemek, the iconic film photographer for the Netflix series Outer Banks, is now retracing her steps in 2025 to remember how she got a front seat to the ever growing authenticity of the creative storytelling world.

Before The Banks:

Growing up in the south, attending college was a non-negotiable for Elaine along with the rest of her traditionally modest town’s young adults. “People weren’t really encouraged to pursue artistic dreams,” she says, and it wasn’t until she arrived at college where she found her voice and strength to create her own path and discover what she was passionate about. In this case, it was her love for shooting film photography that was waiting to be found by her in her early adolescent years. “I just remember being in college and I went to a photography store for some reason, and there was a film camera there… and I bought it. I’ve always been creative, I grew up around cameras,” Elaine says when remembering her first encounter with her Pentax K1000 – the camera that would soon change her life. 

Elaine was naturally drawn to film because she liked the wait – she liked enjoying the scenes in the moment, because delayed gratification was more exciting. She always felt an overwhelming feeling of reward and pride after seeing her film photos fully developed. 

After deciding communications would be her niche area of study once she had fallen in love with sharing her thoughts with the world, Elaine was hired as an assistant on the set of a film series, Outer Banks, where she was granted the chance to bring her friend to work – her film camera. 

But just how did they find her? “Fate is a good word. I met the guy that created the show (Outer Banks) through working at a pizza restaurant, which led me to a path that helps me be able to work in this industry,” Elaine says. Her photos did wonders on social media and people enjoyed the authenticity of the behind-the-scenes look at the set, so much so that Netflix offered her a photography position based on the expertise she had to offer. Elaine defines the experience of receiving a job offer from Netflix as a pivotal moment in her career and a facilitator for her growth as a photographer. 

The On-Set Experience

“It was just so exciting. Netflix truly gave me so much space to do what I wanted,” Elaine says when talking about shooting film photography on the energetic set of Outer Banks, after being hired at the end of season two as her first paid gig in the field. She mentions feeling special to be a part of an environment where “every person has a purpose,” especially from coming from an assistant role in the past. She describes netflix as a very supportive community who allowed her to grow and follow her intuitive creative vision. “Netflix put a lot of trust in me. It definitely taught me a lot about what I want to do and how I want to grow in this industry,” she states.

The Outer Banks fanbase is very passionate and Elaine invested time into getting to know what they wanted, and sure did deliver on social media. “People didn’t want to see the characters, they wanted to see the cast hanging out,” she says when remembering her thought process when strategically catching the most authentic scenes of the fun-loving cast when they weren’t on screen. Between her collaboration with Netflix’s team and keeping up with social media engagement, Elaine understood certain cast dynamics that fans swooned over. She found herself tapping into her sixth sense often and took her own direction once in a while, such as shooting for Carlacia, “Cleo”,  at the end of season two when Netflix advised her not to, due to the uncertainty of relevance in terms of plotline arc.  Elaine pulled Carlacia aside despite not having allocated time to shoot photos with her – the team at Netflix thanked her later, as Cleo became an iconic character by the end of season two.

A Note For Young Creatives

“Stick up for yourself, especially as a woman in any industry,” Elaine states as parting words of encouragement for young creatives in the industry. She mentions wishing she had someone to tell her to state the value of her work and time, and to be proud of your work when just embarking on her career.

Inspiration is a crucial energy for any creative but especially for Elaine, who appreciates the feeling in any capacity – becoming inspired, and inspiring others. She describes her experience watching other people connect with her work as a “surprising plus” because the feeling of pride and excitement for her own work was enough to keep her motivated. “I have so much love for it (photography)… I was able to give both of my starter film cameras to two girls who were interested and they still send me their photos today,” she shares when speaking on how people have come to her awarding her as the reason they got into the art themselves.

What’s Next?

Elaine’s future is brighter than the flicker of a film camera flash on a sunny day on the beach, as she is now switching gears to work with brands to expand her palette in the craft. “I love having my photos tell a story through travel,” she states when expressing how much she looks forward to travel opportunities in 2025 in order to tell the story of different cultures. Elaine’s long-term goals as a creative include developing photojournalism skills to to have more of a story side to her work. “The ultimate story you can tell is one that most people can’t see on their day-to-day. There is a part of me that feels the urge to explore that,” she says. Elaine dreams of working on a documentary production team someday, as she feels inclined to explore videography. As for a tease, she has been working behind-the-scenes on a new Netflix show that has not been announced yet.

Elaine’s start to her career is one unlike anyone in the industry has seen before. She got an exceptional opportunity early on and she feels very lucky, and wants to start back at the bottom to build her portfolio based on her personal work style. Elaine values the principle of trusting the process, her talent, and time, and states “I don’t ever want to destroy my love for photography by trying to make money off of it, so that’s something that I’m really trying to respect.” She is enjoying the process of working her way up to the best photographer she can be, and wants to spend the rest of her life doing photography. “I’m very much enjoying the process of wondering what I want to do,” she says.