Snap, Crackle, Pop
Photographer Poppy de Villeneuve has quite a pedigree. Her dad once dated the infamous Twiggy, and her mom is a model. She and her illustrator sister Daisy have garnered a reputation as socialites, and are often spotted out on the town in their native London. Enthralled with glitzy photos of Poppy on WireImage and what I thought was an ad campaign featuring her beribboned backside, I was prematurely intimidated by her cool. Instead, Poppy was genuinely friendly, and very “real deal” with regards to her work. Far from snapping haphazard shots at hip parties, de Villeneuve emphasized the slow, painstaking rate at which she words. Nor are her subjects all bright young things: her current project, “The Strangers,” is a series of portraits of death-row inmates in Louisiana.
Is there anything you’re working on in particular now?
I’m doing a personal project called The Strangers, that’s the inmate project. I’ve been working on that for two years.
The prison’s in Louisiana?
Yeah, it’s the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
So do you still need to go to Louisiana, or are you done with that part?
I’m pretty sure I’ve done most of that, and, in fact, I’m only allowed to go when they have a rodeo on, which is in April, so if I had to go it would be in April.
Why are you only allowed to go when they have a rodeo on?
Because they let media in. Otherwise it’s quite hard to get in.
Oh. What’s the rodeo like?
Very strange. They have ... it’s like gladiators. It’s totally bizarre.
Wait, the inmates do the rodeo?
Yeah.
Really weird.
Well, it seems a bit strange, but they actually have freedom for one day in a certain way because they’re riding horses and things like that. And lots of people go and see it.
So is there bull-riding also?
Yeah. They win money, so it has a kind of purpose.
What was it like interacting with the inmates?
It’s really pleasant, actually. When you meet someone like that I don’t think you can judge someone by one event—I think you look at the bigger picture. A lot of them have been there for, like, 30, 40 years and it’s a confusing thing, like, how you feel about a person and, like, most of them are there for murder. But when I’m photographing I’m not thinking too much about what they’ve done, I’m thinking more about the image. You kind of go into a different mode.
How do you pick the inmates?
It’s kind of whoever happens to be in the vicinity because I’m outside and I set up a white background…
At the rodeo?
Yeah. So it’s sort of, like, who happens to be around. Sometimes they’ll line them up and say, who do you want to pick? I find that uncomfortable but I just have to do it. Some faces are more interesting than others…
All the clothes and hats and stuff, it’s all what they were wearing?
Yeah, that’s their uniform. And they wear stripey shirts sometimes and that’s for the rodeo. Which is quite bizarre.
So do you like New York? What kind of stuff do you like and not like?
Americans connect very quickly but sometimes it can be a little bit surface, but maybe that’s the nature of it, like, America’s quite quick and New York’s quite, like, everyone’s on the go and I find that a little difficult. Like, you have to really like make sure someone sits down and has a connection with you.
Professionally or just making-friends-wise?
In general. But it’s a really functional city to work in, and I think the attitude is really good. Even things like renting equipment is much easier here.
Have you found yourself going to Tea and Sympathy much?
No, I’m OK for that. I mean, I was literally in London last week so that’s fine. I do miss having good English tea, though.
What kind of tea do you brew at home?
Barry’s tea. You get it in Ireland. It’s really good, it doesn’t have that, like, horrible tangy aftertaste.
What made you decide to become a photographer?
Well my father’s a photographer and my mother’s a model—she still does a lot of stuff. So I’ve always had really good images in my life and always amazing books. I’ve always been a visual person. And photography just kind of made sense, like, if you’re dyslexic…
You’re dyslexic?
Very. Like, my spatial awareness is very good but it’s very hard for me to do certain things.
But you can read for pleasure?
I can read properly just very slowly.
And is it fun for you?
Yes, definitely. Reading, for me, is quite connected to photography because it’s a narrative and you have to tell a story. So, yeah, that’s one of my favorite things, and I’ve been reading lots of different short stories. I like being in America and reading Salinger.
Do you have a favorite photo that you’ve taken or someone else has taken?
As far as my own work, it’s hard because the moment I do something I understand my craft better, so my technique is constantly getting better. Recently, I’ve been using a large format camera and I have a very specific controlled way of photographing. I like to have control over the situation and maybe I’m a bit of a control freak but I like having control—I’m not a snap photographer at all. I mean, my work is very slow.
Of those recent works do you have any favorites?
Recently, I photographed a plastic surgeon who has an all-female team in her operating theater in London and it was just such an incredible experience being there. So that’s maybe one of my new favorites.
What photographs do you have at home?
I actually just bought this photo by Robert Ball, who’s a forensic photographer, and he did this series on pacemakers. You can’t throw pacemakers away since they’re not biodegradable, so in the hospital you’ve got to have a box with all the pacemakers in it. And they look like ... creatures. It’s really beautiful.
Also, on the Internet, I saw this picture of your butt with ribbons on it.
That’s actually not my butt.
Oh! Whose is it?
I have no idea!
Then why did they say it was yours?
Well, because I’ve been in her [that photographer’s] campaigns and I shoot her campaigns, but I’m still confused as to why they thought it was me. But it’s OK because I don’t think the butt’s too bad.
No, no. It’s a very respectable butt.
Thank you. That’s a bit embarrassing actually because a lot of people see that. You know, people obviously do Google you because people keep saying, oh, I saw this thing. It’s quite funny.