Street Artists Take On Monumental Infrastructure in 'Impossible' Photos
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Photographer Joseph Ford's ongoing series 'Impossible Street Art' invites artists to imagine their work in inaccessible sites.

Street Artists Take On Monumental Infrastructure in ‘Impossible’ Photos

Known for his collaborative photography projects like Invisible Jumpers, Joseph Ford is interested in perception and intervention. His ongoing series, Impossible Street Art, invites artists such as Antonyo Marest, Alex Senna, and MadC to imagine their work in monumental landscapes via a bit of sleight of hand. The artists create trompe-l’œil interventions on Ford’s photographs, which he then documents on an easel in front of that same place to give a sense of what these huge paintings or installations would feel like in situ.

“These new works mostly explore infrastructure in the form of huge concrete constructions—nuclear power plants, dams, fossil fuel power stations,” Ford says. The locations are often connected to the industries and network of energy production, such as hydropower systems, or logistical configurations related to highways and ports.

A photographic print of a dam in Switzerland with a street art intervention superimposed on the image, which is photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Alex Senna, Luzzone Dam, Switzerland

For example, the nuclear power station “painted” by Skirl is situated in a sprawling nature preserve on England’s east coast, adjacent to the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape, and a new plant is currently under construction despite much local opposition.

“These locations are physically in the public domain and dominate their surroundings through their huge scale, but often have restricted access. They are imposed on us—it is impossible not to see them—but it is impossible to engage with them, use them, or sometimes even approach them.” By superimposing street art on otherwise inaccessible sites, Ford and the participating artists address these looming constructions and the nature of energy production as “a way of reclaiming and engaging with them,” he says.

See more on Ford’s Instagram.

A photographic print of a power plant in the U.K. with a street art intervention superimposed on the image, which is photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Skirl, Sizewell Nuclear Power Plant, U.K.

A photographic print of a power plant in the U.K. with a street art intervention superimposed on the image, which is photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Sen2, Willington Power Plant, Derbyshire, U.K.

A photographic print of the New Jersey Turnpike from above with a street art intervention superimposed on the image, which is photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

RH Doaz, Jersey Turnpike, New Jersey

A photographic print of a landscape with a street art intervention superimposed on a cliff face, photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Guy Denning, Luzzone, Switzerland

A photographic print of a dam in Switzerland with a street art intervention superimposed on the image, which is photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

MadC, Luzzone Dam, Switzerland

A photographic print of a city and river at sunset with a street art intervention superimposed in the sky, photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Chris RWK, New Jersey

A photographic print of a city and river at sunset with a street art intervention superimposed on the river, photographed on an easel in front of the same landscape

Joe Iurato, Morris Canal Basin, New Jersey

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