Couple Makes Art From Potholes

A creative husband and wife figuratively made lemonade out of lemons: They turned potholes into works of art.

Davide Luciano and Claudia Ficca have collaborated on a number of projects. Luciano works as a photographer, while Ficca is a food stylist. The two have combined to shoot series such as Gourmet Mouse Traps (fitted with bait "for the pickiest mouse") and Meals Interrupted (dining tables disrupted by various events).

In 2011, the couple re-created a number of scenes around potholes in four cities. Photos from New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Toronto transform the dreaded road nuisances into ice coolers, ponds, grape buckets, and much more.

"This project started as a humorous way to expose the ridiculous pothole problem in our hometown," Luciano told us via email. "Along the way we realized that sometimes we can't change things that frustrate us [like potholes], but we have the power to change our perspective toward those things. This is what this project is really about."

Traffic was not stopped, Photoshop was not used, and surprisingly, no one was injured in the creation of these pictures. The variety of settings is fascinating: a child playing in water, a group of girls partying with bottle service, and a guy eating a giant mound of spaghetti, all centered around potholes.

"We used props that could easily be moved in and out of the potholes," Luciano explains. "One of the most difficult scenes was 'Baywatch,' because the prop hand kept falling to its side when cars drove by."

That also happens to be Ficca's favorite photo. Luciano particularly enjoyed the "Alice in Wonderland" picture. The photographer tells us that the next project he and his wife will work on is "a photo series that touches on obesity and our obsession with junk food."