The elevator pitch or elevator chat is an impromptu self-introduction technique performed in monologic or dialogic form, allowing the speaker to transfer substantial information to their interlocutor about themselves or the project they are working on. By today, speeches and talks of this kind have left the office building elevators and gained ground in many other situations in which we have little time to draw attention to who we are and what we are currently engaged in.
While they are trying to get approved by The Establishment, it is relatively common that young emerging photographers find themselves in situations where they have to address directors and curators of leading institutions, art writers, magazine editors, collectors, accomplished artists, and fellow photographers ahead of a promising career. In the last few years, several platforms were created for photographers in Europe that provide opportunities for such decisive encounters.
One of them is the project FUTURES – European Photography Platform that started in 2017. This cooperation, which connects 20 photography centers across 20 European countries, set as one of its main goals to scout remarkable new talents and introduce them into the world of international photography, and into the art market in particular. Each institution participating in FUTURES selects five emerging artists per year and then creates a number of situations for them–exhibitions, roundtable discussions, tutoring, portfolio reviews, workshops, and virtual events–where they can establish professional relationships with people from different areas of expertise within photography, and with each other.
The first edition of The Elevator Chats exhibition was produced in a year when the coronavirus epidemic meant that these important face-to-face meetings were canceled. In response to this situation, I initiated five chats in which a FUTURES talent (5 pairs in total, or 10 artists) met each other in the format of a virtual elevator chat. Some of these quick conversations went so well that they became the basis for further collaborations between artists.
Based on this experience, at The Elevator Chats 2.0 we initiated five online dialogues between ten FUTURES talents, creating five short one-to-one conversations, or elevator chats. Placed next to one emblematic picture from each artist’s latest project, the five elevator chats on the wall, like punchy interviews, will provide you with a swift insight into the current issues dealt with, the artistic practices pursued, and the different techniques applied by the talented emerging photographers of The Old Continent.
Emese Mucsi
Exhibiting artists:
DARAB Zsuzsa (HU) & Helene BELLENGER (FR), NUNKOVICS Róbert (HU) & Maria GUȚU (MD), ZELLEI Boglárka (HU) & Agate TŪNA (LV) MELEGH Noémi Napsugár (HU) & Anna ADAMO (IT), FROMM Balázs (HU) & Ivo SEKULOVSKI (MK/IT)