Walking in with prints in a wet bag, or emailing first? Tell me the one that actually worked
When I first tried, I emailed. Sent a polite message with a few images to a small gallery here in Porto. Nothing. Not even a no.
Then one afternoon I walked in with three cyanotypes wrapped in a plastic bag because it was raining and my folder was paper. I was soaked. We talked for maybe twenty minutes about salt, about the water, and she said bring them back next week. That was the one that opened a door.
I think it depends on the place. Some want the email. Some want to see your hands and your face.
What worked for you, the walk-in or the email? And be honest, was there a door that only opened because it was raining on you?
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walk-in every time, but i think the wet bag is doing more work than the walk-in. showing up soaked with actual objects says something an email can't fake. my version was worse though: i brought a stack of prints in a tote bag that had a hole in it and half of them slid out on the sidewalk on the way. walked in holding this sad fan of damaged paper. she still looked at them. i think people respond to the effort being visible, even when the effort is a mess.
the email thing isn't dead though, it just has a different job. it gets you a name to ask for. i've had decent luck emailing one specific person rather than the gallery address, then walking in a week later and using their name like we've met. which we haven't. feels insane typing it out but it works.
The sad fan of damaged paper. I laughed, but only because I have done something close to it. There is something honest about a print that has already survived a little weather. Mine had a corner of the bag open, so the rain got in anyway. I decided it looked better that way.
You are right that the wet bag is the real work. When I walked in that afternoon, I was not performing anything, I just could not protect the prints and myself at the same time, and she could see that. You cannot stage being soaked.
The part about the email getting you a name is the piece I did not understand at the start. I sent mine to the gallery, to no one. Now I write to a person, one person, and it is different.
I'm not sure the damage is doing the work so much as you being a person in the room. I've done the email route and I've done the walk in route, and the emails that got anywhere were the ones where I already had a name, like you said. Cold email with images attached, nothing. Cold email to a specific person who'd seen my work at a fair, got a real reply.
That said, I've never once walked into a gallery with my work and had it go well, so maybe I'm just not charming when I'm nervous. Standing there holding a canvas while someone looks at it is my nightmare. Do you go back a second time if the first walk in is lukewarm, or is that a one shot thing for you?