
The story of
William Josephs Radford
(Born 23rd August, 1998) William Josephs Radford is a thought provoking contemporary photographer and artist, raised in the raw countryside of rural Andalucía, Spain.
Born into an unconventional and exciting environment, William could draw before he could walk and was rarely seen at his local village school without a pencil in his hand. Developing a fascination for cameras at the age of 15, he later attended the University of Gloucestershire to study fine art photography. Recently being nominated for The 7th Fine Art Photography Awards, for his ‘Character Building’ series which explores the topic of his peculiar childhood.
Inspired by the transgression of Épater la bourgeoisie, Radford’s Striking compositions and subject matters aim to challenge his audience, drawing on semantic values and visual signifiers in order to explore controversial themes. Favouring a light-painting technique, Radford painstakingly layers light throughout long exposures to capture the majority of his constructed scenes. Adroitly employing colour to further engage with a topic.
Photography quotes
Artist Statement
In the interest of respectfully provoking a reaction and luring the audiences thought process outside the box. The suggestive work aims at challenging artistic concepts through traditional methods and conventions. The vision being to make a statement with my artwork, and break boundaries through a gallery environment.
I have always enjoyed the surreal aspect of photography. When I started as a teenager, I would remove ordinary household furniture from their immediate environment, placing them into obscure surroundings. The lounge armchair in a river, the kitchen rocking chair on top of a mountain. Further developing this interest in the unusual, my recent work continues to follow this path. Whilst attempting to dissect some sensitive topics of our generation. Including; Gender identity, voyeurism and religion.
Heavily influenced by transgression and controversy, I find a great deal of inspiration in movements which reject prior definitions of art, in order to progress. More specifically, the likes of Andress Serrano, Sophie Calle and Sally Mann have impacted my vocation.

Storyline
- 1998
Born in Marbella, Spain.
- 2014
Fell in love with cameras at a young age, and decided to completely change my field of study. Dithching Science and Biology for an art degree.
- 2016
Graduated from the Fine Art Baccalaureate with outstanding grades, whilst pursuing photography with a fierce passion.
- 2017
Travelled Australia for 6 months, before being accepted at the University of Gloucestershire to study Fine-art Photography.
- 2020
After graduating with a first class degree I continued to explore the artform, constantly falling deeper in love with it.
- 2021
Gained recognition from the likes of Harper’s Magazine, Saatchi Art, The 7th Fine art photography awards, F-Stop Magazine, Medium, and many more.
- 2022
Won Artjobs’ artist of the month, got featured on the inner front cover of Al-tiba9 Magazine, Sold my first original artwork.
- Today
Seeking out new and exciting opportunities!
Best Photography quotes
Exhibitions & Awards
Awards
CHARACTER BUILDING | NYC4PA, Primary Colors, Juror’s selection (2022)
CHARACTER BUILDING | 7th Fine art photography awards, Nomination (2021)
Books
Out of the frame – Glasgow gallery of photography (2022)
A Cohort of Creative Bohemians – Tony Bryant (2022)
Photography in the Visual Culture – serradifalco editore (2021)
Room of Roses and weeds anthology – Waterstones (2019)
Solo Exhibitions
DEFLOWERED | Artjobs – Artist of the month, November (2022)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Artsenal Inoxis, Alhaurin, Spain (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Art Nou Milenni, Barcelona (2021)
HOLY SMOKES | Studio 33, Fuengirola, Spain (2021)
FAMILY MATTERS | Source Graduate (2020)
NATURAL FORM | Coconut Cafe, Coin, Spain (2016)
Group Exhibitions
MERGING MOMENTS | F-Stop Magazine, Partnership Issue (2022)
FAMILY MATTERS | F-Stop Magazine, Portrait Issue (2022)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Laura I Art Gallery, London (2021)
BEACH BUMS | F-Stop Magazine, Vacation (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | F-Stop Magazine, Open Theme (2021)
HOLY SMOKES | La Caja Blanca, Malaga, Spain (2021)
OBJECTIFICATION | Artsenal Inoxis Gallery, Alhaurin, Spain (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Homes Real estate, Fuengirola, Spain (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | International Landscape Exhibit, GGOP (2021)
FAMILY MATTERS | F-Stop Magazine, Self portrait Issue (2021)
MILE HIGH CLUB | Documentary, GGoP (2020)
MILE HIGH CLUB | F-stop magazine, Documentary issue (2020)
OBJECTIFICATION | Artsy Feature (2019)
OBJECTIFICATION | The Wilson Gallery, Cheltenham, Uk (2019)
NATURAL FORM | Ayuntamiento de Monda (2019)
Newspapers & Articles
CHARACTER BUILDING | Hidden talents magazine, Summer edition (2022)
MERGING MOMENTS | 300 Magazine (2022)
MERGING MOMENTS | Fine art Shippers (2022)
BIN BAGS | The Sun, UK (2021)
BIN BAGS | Gloucestershire Live, UK (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Harpers Magazine (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Saatchi Art Featured collection (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | SUR in English, Life in the frame (2021)
FAMILY MATTERS | Kit del fotografo (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Cultura Conectada (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | Fine art shippers (2021)
CHARACTER BUILDING | 300 Magazine (2021)