Reigning Badass of the Pet Portrait Scene

She shoots her darkly creative, kitschy and oddly historical painting-esque pet portraits in her Downtown Los Angeles studio. She has a unique self-awareness that makes each portrait one-of-a-kind. Working with custom Victorian and 60’s wallpaper-style backdrops, as well as 1980’s double exposures, her finished products seem to span centuries. She shoots for movie studios, big brands, movie stars, and your neighbor next door, all with a distinctive eye for high style.

Two badasses: Danielle and Panton, the cat.

Quite simply she’s the reigning badass of the pet portrait scene.

She’s Danielle Spires.

For half a decade, I’ve worked closely with Danielle at my day job. Need an award-winning photo shoot staged and completed in a snap? She’s the one to go to. Have two thousand photos that need to be curated and produced into a four minute movie in a day? Yep, she’s the one. Need a photo of a star sagely photoshopped so that three-inch nose hairs disappears? Ditto: Danielle.

Yes, I know a lot of the stories, but now it’s time for more to know her. It’s time for all of you to plan your pet portraits … once we are allowed out of our houses of course. If not to honor your best buddy, do it for the cool experience you’ll have during the photo shoot.

MEDIA GUY: Pet portraits? I didn’t know that was a thing. How did you know it was a thing?

DANIELLE SPIRES: It’s surprising how many people think I’m kidding when I say I’m a pet portrait photographer. I’ve always known since I was young that I’m a childfree DINK kind of girl, therefore cats have always been my roommates. So as I progressed through the years as a portrait photographer, I naturally turned to my cats as muses. I was greatly influenced by Pre-Raphaelite paintings of people with their animals, and just instilled that in my personal projects. Eventually I decided to turn it into a business after I offered pet portraits as a fundraiser to help with my cats’ veterinary bills, and the response was overwhelming.

MG: First of all, what’s a DINK girl? Second of all, cats as muses? Don’t they just lay in the corner and act aloof and uncaring?

DS: DINK means Dual Income No Kids. My lifelong vision is me, a life partner, kitties, and a dedication to art. The best part about cats is how much work it takes to make them pose in photos. I admire the emotional intelligence and independence. Not that I don’t love dogs in the studio, they’re so much fun. But cats are a near constant challenge. Cats know no masters, they come into our lives unknowingly enriching them. We should be thankful for the finite time they decide to spend with us, giving us an opportunity for companionship and otherworldly friendship. And should we repay them with ridiculous photoshoots.

MG: Which Pre-Raphaelite paintings spoke to you loudest?

The SAVIOURS Series: Pre-Raphaelite Essences.

DS: I’m always torn between tortured Baroque paintings and the sensual ’slice of life’ Pre-Raphaelites. But there are probably two paintings I find myself thinking about often, and I know you didn’t ask about Baroque but “The Bridesmaid” by J E Millais and Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Slaying Holofernes” sit at the top of my list. The Bridesmaid possibly conveys a listlessness to the marriage conventions of that time, while being such a striking and romantic portrait of a woman. And Gentileschi definitely has a way of painting women and telling stories.

MG: Tell me about your favorite shoot?

DS: I have so many favorite shoots, but the series that comes to mind first is my SAVIOURS series I shot for an art show. I shot the whole series a few weeks after my beloved cat Noguchi passed away, in his honor. Each photo is made to look like a Pre-Raphaelite painting of a woman with her pet, and I sourced the weirdest and strangest pets for this. The coolest was watching each owner interact with their beloved pet, and tell me stories about the friendship they have with their snake, hedgehog, cat, lizard, etc. The weirdest was shooting a tarantula named Lily. She was a fuzzy little cute tarantula, and we’d just drop her on her owner’s neck and let her crawl while I quickly took photos.

MG: So what is it that drives your clients to you? Are you unique in this world of pet portraits? Is it your distinctive style that has driven you to the top of this niche? Or do you just have “it”?

DS: Oh wow, that’s a tough question. I’d like to think I have a distinct style that people seek out. Sometimes clients scroll through my Instagram and when they come in the studio, they tell me they want the stoic, stiff posed look on kitschy wallpaper that is prevalent in most of my work. I always tell them to smile for a couple shots, for their mom’s sake. I also love to think I make this experience fun, unique and little weird. How often do you drive to a photo studio in the outskirts of Downtown Los Angeles to take a photo of your dog in a cowboy hat, double exposed to look like the soft focus Olan Mills portraits of your childhood? I guess I can make “unique” obtainable to anyone and everyone.

Let ’em eat…catnip! Royal catnip.

MG: Your dream shoot would be…?

DS: Well, I suppose it’s to be hired to shoot the most opulent pet portraits of people and their horses (or any pet). I’m talking Rococo style sets, over the top gowns and dramatic costumes for the animals. Imagine a horse in a custom jabot and headpiece encrusted in jewels.

MG: Without giving away everything, what was your biggest nightmare shoot?

DS: Ha, can I say my biggest nightmare shoot didn’t even involve a pet?  I’m actually going to have to say my own cat Panton is my hardest client. He absolutely shuts down, turns into a bowl of pudding and starts shaking like he’s being taken to the vet. I get about four photos with him before I set him down, which he then promptly forgets why he’s angry after I give him treats. I get literally four shots. I can’t believe my own cat is my nightmare client.

MG: Are famous people’s pets more pampered than your average citizen’s pets?

DS: Absolutely not! Although I knew a private pilot that was hired to fly celebrities’ pets around the country. I have regular clients come in with their pet in a stroller, fresh from the groomer, eating the most expensive artisanal snacks and wearing jeweled outfits. I love it because our pets are our best friends, our comrades, our families…they deserve only the finest.

MG: Do you offer craft services for the four- and eight-legged models? How about Evian water?

Badass self portrait.

DS: (Laughs) I actually do! In addition to fancy water, I always have fresh dog and cat treats—(the good stuff!)—and custom-made cat toys that I hand-sew myself.

MG: How do you bring out the personality of the pet and their human partner?

DS: There’s such a fine line between bringing out their personality and a highly stylized shoot. I try to balance both. Most of the time, my client has a specific idea or vision when they come into the studio. They meticulously pick out clothing specific to the backdrop and ask to be posed a certain way. Then I step in and tweak everything to heighten the style. That way we meet in the middle, their true personality comes out, and it also looks like a Danielle Spires shot.

MG: What do you do for animal lovers who are allergic but want a hip, once-in-a-lifetime portrait? You know, people like me?

DS: Hypoallergenic dogs! Someday I’ll get you in the studio with a hypoallergenic dog. I expect velvet loafers and a matching pocket square.

MG: What’s a metal/goth/satanic version of a queen?

DS: Me…