The Last Of Us was an epic and powerful game, anyone who has taken the time to play it will tell you just how wonderful it is. So it’s little wonder that it’s loved not only in the gaming but the cosplay community as well. I personally could think of no better cosplayer than Maul Cosplay to take on the incredible task of bringing Joel to life. Maul Cosplay is a full time German cosplayer, best known throughout the internet for his amazing cosplay of Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher series, he is a artist in any form and truly does every character he takes on justice.
One of the things about these photos that makes them the deeply impacting images that they are is the location. Shot in the exclusion zone of Chernobyl in and around the city of Pripyat, it’s instantly understandable and simple to see this was the perfect location for this shoot. This however wasn’t the only reason Maul Cosplay chose to come to Chernobyl.
At the header for the album of this amazing shoot on his facebook Maul Cosplay says;
“Why did I dare to travel to the exclusion zone of Chernobyl just for cosplay? Because it was not just for cosplay. Because I didn’t go there for fun and games. I went there, because these places matter. They represent something none of us should ever forget about. And believe me, it wasn’t at all a happy-go-lucky trip.”
“Of course we ALSO went to Chernobyl to take the most authentic TLOU pictures we had in mind. I would never fight that. So, eosAndy and I put together a bunch of very cool and in game like but also a lot of extremely heavy, dark pictures. We want them to be seen. We want people to keep these catastrophes in mind. To treat them with more respect and awareness.”
“So why not use a franchise like The Last Of Us to teach younger generations about the importance of assuming responsibility? Most of you have the right to choose. The right to vote. As this planet is your home – save it!””
Flipping through the truly stunning and breathtaking images from Maul Cosplays The Last Of Us shoot it’s easy to see why it was so important to showcase this location. The Chernobyl Disaster happened over 30 years ago but its effects will be felt for many more years to come. During the disaster in 1986 the fallout from the incident effected not only Russia but many other countries across Europe. A radioactive cloud of caesium-137 (which has a half life of approximately 30 years) fell across places such as Norway, Germany and even the UK.
This radioactive fallout across those countries effected day to day life till even recently. The United Kingdom was forced to restrict the movement of sheep from upland areas when the radioactive caesium-137 fell across parts of Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Northern England. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster in 1986, a total of 4,225,000 sheep had their movement restricted across a total of 9,700 farms, in order to prevent contaminated meat entering the human food chain. Since 1986 that number was decreased over time with no farms remaining restricted. Northern Ireland was released from all restrictions in 2000, Scotland were lifted in 2010 and Wales and Cumbria were lifted during 2012.
Maul Cosplays message is clear, and its one echoed throughout not only The Last Of Us but many post apocalyptic games.
About the Author
Rachel Humphreys
Rachel (Trance) is a long time gamer full time nerd without a plan... When she's not playing on some manner of console or handheld device she can be found enjoying popculture life to its fullest.
