James Barnett and Poppy French document the eccentricities of Britain with warmth and humour

It’s Nice That: How did the two of you first start collaborating as a photography/directing duo, and how do you split your roles on set?

James Barnett: Me and Poppy started hanging out in 2006 after meeting for the first time on a train to Wimbledon where we were both attending our Foundation Art course. She had enormous hair, a ridiculous laugh, and, as it turned out, was incredibly camp, so naturally we just had to be friends. 2026 is our 20th anniversary!

We both seemed to like the same visual language, although our output was quite different – I liked shooting and editing whilst Poppy was a better photographer. Our friendship lasted through uni (I went to CSM and Poppy went to Birmingham) and then afterwards, we continued creating work, hanging out and even living together. We always took on little creative side projects alongside our full-time jobs, hoping we would one day be noticed as ‘talented creatives you should be bothered by’ but alas, it never came – but at least we had created outlets for our over-enthusiastic creativity. Back in the day, we put on big immersive exhibitions in the Rose Lipman in Dalston, staged film screenings of our work and shot lots of photography for newspapers, zines, Vogue (yes really) and even took over Dalston Superstore with our work. I think we wanted an audience that we could never really find – but social media has changed all that. We both worked in installation, production, project management so we’re quite capable. Now, Poppy is more of the photographer and I handle the video side of things.

INT: What is the importance of the creative duo?

JB: The value of a good soundboard should never be underestimated.

PF: It is often hard work but I think we are mostly having a great time. James also seems to know what I’m thinking.

INT: Who or what are some of your creative inspirations?

JB: I’d describe mine as a mix of high and low. Adam Curtis, Louis Theroux, even the early Channel 4 Big Brother series but I was also obsessed by the children’s BBC show Come Outside as a kid.

PF: Nan Goldin’s This Will Not End Well made me weep and weep and I find weeping very inspirational. But also with Nan Goldin it is the length of her work – she returns and adds and adds. I think as photographers we don’t let things drop. Keep returning, revisiting. With that in mind I love Nigel Shafran and his series Ruth on the phone and Jocelyn Allen, particularly her Oh Me Oh Mae series. And then Stephen Shore’s Uncommon Places – I dream of being able to photograph a breakfast like Stephen.

INT: Across the three films in When James and Poppy Met, is there anybody that you met that particularly stood out to you?

JB:The story behind the preservation of Deek’s Cycle Shop at The Rural Life Living Museum was really very moving and unexpected. In fact, the whole of that particular shoot was just completely lovely because we were in this idyllic space surrounded by older people looking after their history for new generations to discover and understand. It was peaceful, contemplative and joyful. It’s where I want to go when I retire.

PF:Yes, The Rural Life Living Museum was excellent. The dedication to preserving quite simple yet significant items to our past felt really special.

INT: You guys have a knack for finding someone utterly delightful to listen to, I feel like even I’ve met them through these videos... what is it about someone that makes you bee-line towards them?

JB: Someone unguarded, not polished, says how they feel, doesn’t have a corporate sheen, is open and honest and not pretentious. Let’s have a real chat like real people and find some common ground be that the weather or how knackered we feel.

PF: Generally and particularly with The Rural Life Living Museum it was great to find people who might not normally be filmed or photographed.

INT: What are some of the artistic similarities that you found between your series’ subjects, from cultural event The Pearly Society to artist Max Allen’s studio?

JB: Craft, passion, precision, camaraderie.

PF: Devotion, dedication and just doing it probably because they have to as it’s what they’ve always done.

INT: How do you balance pre-planned shots with spontaneous, candid moments during a shoot/filming? Or do you throw that all out of the window to go full run-and-gun?

PF: We go in with a bit of a plan. I think we are both quite good at reading how each other are feeling about a situation. We both like to keep things tight and we want to observe more than disrupt. This way there are often moments of magic; at The Rural Life Living Museum we knew what we were there for and then there was one more excellent thing after another. Before we met Alex with his diesel engine, I already thought we had it wrapped and then, there he was, a vision in orange on an orange engine in that September sun.