Joseph Ford x Sen2 Figueroa, 2024
These are limited edition archival pigment photographs printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315gsm paper. Joseph signs and numbers each piece.
Edition sizes
60x45cm (23.6" × 17.7") including white border - edition of 15 prints + 2 artist’s proofs.
120x90cm (47.2" × 35.4") including white border - edition of 5 prints + 2 artist’s proofs.
When the edition is sold out, no more prints will be made at that size.
About this picture
I created this piece with Sen2 (Sandro Figueroa), the renowned New York-based artist. This is one of the strangest places I’ve ever shot - the cooling towers of Willington, a coal-fired power station in the UK, disused since the late 1990s. The five towers reach 300 feet/90m into the sky and it’s hard to comprehend how big they are until you’re standing at the foot of them. I shot with a remote transmitter so I could sneak into the photograph to give a sense of scale.
Most of the locations I have photographed are physically in the public domain, and indeed dominate their surroundings through their huge scale, but have restricted access. They are thus imposed on the people living nearby - it is impossible not to see them - but it is impossible to engage with them, use them, or sometimes even approach them. They are often part of the energy infrastructure - arguably the biggest issue of our time - and as such tend to be the subject of controversy. Painting on prints of these huge constructions is a way of reclaiming and engaging with them.
Information about Impossible Street Art
In this project my starting point was to imagine if street artists could work on any surface, not restricted by scale, accessibility, safety or rules. By challenging these conventions I explore the tensions between artistic expression and the restrictions imposed by social norms and governments. I have photographed landscapes that would be amazing for a street artist to paint, but are impossible to paint for real, because they're too big or inaccessible.
I have chosen some of my favourite street artists and given them large photographic prints, which they have painted to create original, hand-made artworks with no digital manipulation.
I then re-shoot each artwork on an easel in its original location, creating captivating windows into a parallel universe where street artists have been given free rein.
These images are created for real, not with CGI or AI.
Blogs & Press
Corriere della Sera
Awards
Art Directors’ Club New York - Merit
AOP Photographers Awards, UK - Silver
Trieste Photo Days, Italy - Finalist
Lishui International Photography Festival, China - Overall festival Gold winner
Applied Arts, Canada
Museums
Lishui Museum of Photography
Note
Picture of print on wall is for illustration - size varies according to which print you purchase.
Only the limited edition prints are for sale, no easel or original painted print included! Photographs and videos are to illustrate the process behind the photographs.
