Joseph Ford x Alex Senna - Impossible Street Art

Limited edition archival pigment photographs printed on Canson Baryta Prestige 340gsm paper. Joseph signs and numbers each piece on the front.

60 x 45cm, Limited Edition of 15
120 x 90cm, Limited Edition of 5 

I created this piece with Brazilian artist Alex Senna, photographed at the 225 metre / 740 feet Luzzone dam in Ticino, Switzerland. Alex is renowned for his distinctive black-and-white murals, using stark contrasts and intricate linework to create depth and texture and exploring emotions and vulnerability through his characters. 

I travelled to the dam and first shot it in spring 2022, giving Alex a 100x70cm print on which he painted. I returned in 2024 to photograph the completed collaboration, shooting in early summer to create a contrast between the snowy landscape of the original picture, and the summer greenery in the new photograph. 

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.