Emerging photographer Daniel Presley-Spinks

By Fiona Campbell

Daniel Presley-Spinks

Choosing an original yet authentic name for a business can be challenging. But when Bellevilleborn Daniel Presley-Spinks named his Saoirse Photography (pronounced Seer-Sha), paying homage to his Irish roots with this Celtic word for “freedom,” it perfectly encapsulated who he is as a photographer.

“I like to have that freedom to do what I want, how I want, and not have people tell me, ‘You have to do this.’ You need to be able to get out there and do your own thing, have to be liberated in a way,” says Presley-Spinks.

At this early stage in his career (the 25-year-old Durham College graduate has been making photos for five years), he’s not one to be pigeonholed. A look at his online portfolio shows a wide range of subjects: architecture, models, event photography, and still life.

“I like to try different things. I don’t want to be known as the person who took pictures of buildings or of people,” says Presley-Spinks. “I don’t like conforming to one specific genre.”

His subjects may be different, but there’s a unified sensibility to his work: striking plays on light and shadow create mood, youthful edginess mix with classic beauty. Inspired by surrealistic visual artist and photographer Man Ray and a young Stanley Kubrick (before he wrote scripts he took photos, particularly slice-of-New-York-life scenes of the mid 1940s ), Presley-Spinks’ work elicits emotion. Surprise. He invites you to feel something.

He doesn’t title his photos, extending that freedom of experience to his viewers. “If [my photos] launch discussion, I think I’ve accomplished something.

I’m not telling you what it’s about. I like opening people’s minds. I like opening discussions with photos.”

Photo Michael Bell.

Photo by Daniel Presley-Spinks

danielspinks.wixsite.com/saoirsephotography

instagram: @saoirsephotography2