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.
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?
You are right, it was me in the room and not the rain. The wet bag just made it easier to laugh at myself, which probably helped more than the prints did.
But the second time, yes, always. The first visit is not a pitch, it is only a hello. I went back with the same three prints, dry this time, and that was when we actually talked about the work. Nobody remembers the first visit. They remember that you came back.
And for what it is worth, standing there while someone looks at your canvas is my nightmare too. I only manage it because the cyanotypes are small and I can hold them like I am carrying something to the kitchen. Something in the hands helps. It stops being a presentation.
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.