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A new path for discovering and collecting photography, from the critically acclaimed to global talent

FUTURES, the leading European Photography Platform, is pleased to announce its two-year collaboration with Unveil, a curated platform for photography NFTs.

The main goal of this partnership is to develop an educational program that will introduce artists to the world of NFTs, encouraging them to explore new markets and opportunities. The course will provide insights into the history, present, and future of the art market, along with an explanation of the underlying technology of NFTs and an overview of various NFT platforms that offer opportunities for artists. 

Additionally to the course, selected works by FUTURES artists will be sold exclusively through Unveil during special drops. The entire sales process will undergo analysis, and constructive feedback will be provided to the artists to assist them in enhancing future sales opportunities.

FUTURES' primary goal is to enhance the professional practice of artists. The collaboration with Unveil will provide artists with more knowledge and insight into their professional practice, inspiring them to explore new markets. This partnership is a significant expansion of FUTURES' educational program, which was launched last year with a three-year collaboration with Magnum Photo.

Menno Liauw, the director of FUTURES, stated, “We recognize that too many emerging artists are chasing too few opportunities, and many highly talented artists slip between the gaps during the middle stages of their careers. Our program aims to increase artists’ visibility, strengthen their international network, enhance their professional skills, promote better working conditions, and foster a collaborative and inclusive environment. All activities resulting from the program serve as a multiplier, generating direct income for artists via fees, synergies, and long-term collaborations while promoting and disseminating their works. Our commitment to ensuring long-term support and a long-lasting impact is one of the core values of FUTURES. Therefore, the partnership with Unveil is an excellent fit for our strategy."

Titus de Jong, Co-founder of Unveil adds “At Unveil, we are always looking for collaborations to push the medium of photography forward. Our primary goal is to provide guidance and opportunities for artists to explore the exciting realm of art photography within the Web3 world. We firmly believe that NFT technology is a true enabler for photographers to expand their artistic vocabulary. As a photography marketplace, Unveil offers assistance to artists seeking worldwide exposure. We help artists maintain a permanent on-chain record of their work, facilitate the sale of NFTs and NFTs backed by prints. This information is stored on a public ledger, providing an opportunity for artists to build long-term successful careers.


About FUTURES:
 
FUTURES is the European Photography Platform that brings together the global photography community to support and nurture the professional development of emerging artists across the world. Since 2017, the platform has aimed to add long-term value by empowering early and mid-career photographers, launching initiatives to promote their work, and granting them access to an unprecedented network of professionals, markets, and audiences. FUTURES seeks to encourage new and adventurous ways of enhancing the vital relationship between artists and the industry by creating an ecosystem that allows and stimulates cross-pollination. It simultaneously aims to become the go-to source for emerging photography worldwide. FUTURES works as a growing international network of influential organizations operating in the field of photography, bringing together a wealth of resources, expertise, and talent programs to pool from. Each year, they nominate a group of rising photography talents to join the platform and co-host a series of events to increase their capacity, mobility, and visibility. Synchronously, the platform aims to reveal new and exciting photographic approaches by celebrating a diversity of stories, encouraging upcoming artists to present their most challenging work, and providing insights into their world and most recent projects.

Unlock Insider Access to the World of Photography

FUTURES x Unveil

In a few short months Unveil will launch its platform with drops in three classical themes: Landscape, Still Life and Portrait. The international artists featured in these drops will reflect the curatorial spectrum of Unveil; from the critically acclaimed and commercially successful to undiscovered diamonds in the rough, future stars of tomorrow.


As a platform, Unveil endeavours to harness the power of blockchain technology and NFTs for photographers all over the world, regardless of their geographic circumstances. As a full platform built by and for the global photography community, we put the artist first in creating the work, and the economic conditions attached to it, through custom smart contracts.

The NFTs offered through Unveil can be categorised as either DAB (Digital Artwork on the Blockchain) or PAB (Physical Artwork on the Blockchain). This means that it’s either unique digital work, often with a dynamic element, or that the NFT is accompanied by a physical artwork. Regardless of the choice between the two, it is exciting to see that in both cases artists enthusiastically chose to create something specific and unique, outside of their existing print and publishing practices. 


For collectors, we open up a completely new horizon of collecting digitally or phygitally (physically + digitally) with the immutable assurance of authenticity, ownership and provenance.  A form that not only collectors have seriously adopted in this new post-hype fase, but also an almost daily growing number of leading museums such as the MoMA in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris and LACMA in Los Angeles.


In this journal you can follow our journey towards our launch with artist announcements, and articles to inform and inspire.


Unveiling and collecting photography through the blockchain.

Launching Unveil

Paul Cupido’s affinity for the natural world was born out of a childhood spent on a Dutch island, where the tides and the cycles of the moon reflect the fleetingness of life. Cupido’s work is also deeply inspired by Japanese photography as well as his travels there. The Japanese philosophical principle of Mu, permeate his creative practice. Mu is a philosophical concept that could be translated as ‘does not have’, but is equally open to countless interpretations. Mu can be considered a void, albeit one that holds potential. It goes beyond having to choose. In translation its meaning comes close to ‘does not have’. Searching for Mu — taking shape in photographs, film clips, sound and folded paper — is tantamount to a quest:  to have journeyed nearly as far away from home as possible, nevertheless, a journey outward equally means an exploration of our inner selves.

Paul Cupido (1972) graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2017. He has since published various artist books, among which Searching for Mu (2017), Continuum (2019), and 4 a.m. (2021)—each one in collaboration with graphic designer Akiko Wakabayashi. Cupido’s work has been exhibited widely, among others at Paris Photo, Unseen, and Nordic Light Festival. Cupido’s work is represented by Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich & Amsterdam), Danziger Gallery (NYC & LA), and The Photographer’s Gallery (London). In 2022 Cupido has been invited to become the inaugural artist-in-resident for INSTANTS, a Château Palmer and Leica residency program.

Paul Cupido

What attracted me to photography in the first place was it’s versatile and purpose driven nature, with very little interest in the question of wether it was art, or not. Some images hold such beauty or transcending power that they elevate them-self above their original purpose. These images strike a cord that resonate within us, that connect us with deeply human sentiments or aesthetic conceptions in our subconscious.

Whether it’s the magnificent flowers of Karl Blossfeldt or portraits of August Sander that were rooted in the tradition of scientific documentation, or the fashion photographs of Richard Avedon or Irving Penn, many of the most (economically) valued photos of the 20th Century have different origins of purpose than art. That’s not to say that photography’s origins and intentions were never artistic. The most expensive photograph ever sold to date is ‘Le Violin d’Ingres’ 1924 by surrealist Man Ray ($12,400,000, Christie’s New York).

So artistically speaking, value is a funny old thing with photography, since it’s not related to the intent or purpose with which it’s made. So what does decide the monetary value of a photograph, especially when photography is inherently a reproducible medium by it’s very nature? What makes the value of an image printed in a book next to worthless, and the exact same image printed from the same negative by the artist and sold through a gallery a hundreds, thousands, or even millions times as much? Well, there are many factors that come into play, but it suffices to say that (albeit somewhat artificial in terms of scarcity) proper edition management and provenance are essential. And with an inherently reproducible medium like photography that’s where the main question: “How do I know I’m not being ripped off?

It’s the question I’ve heard thousands upon thousands of times over the years as the first question asked by people who were very willing, but cautious to buy their first photograph. And understandably so. The beauty of blockchain and NFT technology and DABs (Digital Art on the Blockchain) and PABS (Physical Art on the Blockchain), is that both problems are completely solved due to their immutable nature.

In terms of edition management, it has never really been in the long term interest of artists or galleries to cheat and sell, say 15 out of an edition of 10, rather than 10 out of 10. Once people would find out, your reputation is damaged beyond repair and all trust is gone. But because the old system is based on trust, and human nature and motivations can be vulnerable, people are still somewhat wary. The decentralised and immutable  nature of blockchain technology means that edition management is infallible, and people can buy with complete confidence.

And ‘provenance’ has always been a key factor in determining value of any artwork, not just for photography. Where has the artwork been throughout it’s life? What collections has it been in? Who published or produced it originally? A straight, accountable line from creation by the artist to the present is the holy grail in that regard, and this is also something that is immutably administrated on the blockchain through DABs and PABs

So that’s it for the (perhaps somewhat boring, but nonetheless important) economic housekeeping. But what are other key parts of why a platform for photography NFTs, DABs and PABS is truly exciting for the future of photography?


Firstly, because it will allow us to unlock talent on a worldwide scale. There is a huge global pool of exceptional talent, that is having difficulty reaching the market, due to some physical barriers. For photography, the existing structure of physical galleries in the physical world, means that as an artist you need representation by a gallery. Once you are represented, the gallery only has so much time and space available within their gallery program, and even less space for proper visibility at art fairs. This is already a challenge for artists in metropolitan areas with a vibrant gallery ecosystem geared towards photography, but next to impossible for talent faced with geographical challenges and circumstances. There is so much exceptional talent out there in those parts of the world, that deserves access to market and a voice in the direction of the medium, and Unveil can offer that.

Unveil doesn’t bypass the existing ecosystem necessarily, but rather expands the possibilities radically. And this expansion of possibilities is not only apparent in the geographical benefits, but also in the artistic sense. Unveil is not only about creating opportunity for global talent, but also about creating new commercial opportunity for new horizons of the artistic practice of established photographic artists. Ventures into digital, video or other dynamic formats were notoriously difficult to properly validate, but with the new NFT technology, this gateway is opened. Something that expands the opportunities for artists both economically and artistically, which in turn truly helps to break through the current boundaries of the photographic medium.

Great power, comes with great responsibility. This is why solid artistic direction, curation and partnerships with leading voices within the world of photography are at the heart of the Unveil project. Unveil already partners with some of the most important museums, festivals, fairs and magazines within contemporary photography in order to ensure that the unveiling of this bright, new future of photography is done the right way, and can serve as strong foundation for the exceptional possibilities it creates.



Expanding opportunities in the photographic medium

In the past, NFTs have had a bad reputation when it comes to the environment, but this is something that is well behind us. Some chains, such as Polygon (which Unveil uses) are not just carbon neutral, they are even carbon negative. Many of the photographer’s working with Unveil have nature and the direct and indirect consequences of climate change as their subject, so naturally contributing to the solution rather than the problem is essential to Unveil.

In general, blockchain technology has emerged as a game-changer in addressing the pressing global problem of climate change. One of the most promising solutions to reduce carbon emissions is the use of blockchain technology, and Polygon is leading the way in this arena. In this article, we will explain why Polygon is the best option for reducing carbon emissions and promoting green initiatives.

Polygon is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that allows for fast and cost-effective transactions. Unlike other chains, which use a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, Polygon uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. This approach means that Polygon consumes significantly less energy than other chains, making it a greener option. The PoS mechanism relies on validators to stake their tokens, which allows them to validate transactions and earn rewards for their contributions. This system is far more energy-efficient than PoW, which requires miners to perform complex calculations to validate transactions.

Furthermore, Polygon is committed to supporting green initiatives, making it the perfect choice for businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint. Polygon has announced a green manifesto, which outlines its commitment to environmental sustainability. In this manifesto, Polygon has pledged a $100 million fund to support decentralized finance (DeFi) projects that focus on reducing carbon emissions. This initiative is expected to attract developers and entrepreneurs who are passionate about tackling climate change and creating a more sustainable future.

Polygon has partnered with KlimaDAO, a decentralized collective of environmentalists, developers, and entrepreneurs, that is widely recognized as the most high-profile proponent of facilitating the nascent on-chain carbon market. The Klima Infinity on-chain carbon market is a unique initiative that allows businesses to offset their carbon emissions by purchasing carbon credits. Polygon purchases credits via KlimaDAO's on-chain carbon market, Klima Infinity, and retires them using its offset aggregator decentralized app. This initiative makes it easy for businesses to offset their carbon footprint and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Polygon's green initiatives do not stop there. The chain is also committed to reducing its own carbon footprint. The Polygon team is working on a green energy plan that will allow them to power their nodes using renewable energy. The team is exploring several options, including solar and wind energy, to power their nodes. This initiative will further reduce Polygon's carbon footprint and make it an even greener option for businesses.

In conclusion, Polygon is the best chain for negative carbon emissions due to its energy-efficient consensus mechanism and commitment to supporting green initiatives. Businesses that want to reduce their carbon footprint should seriously consider using Polygon as their preferred launch chain. As the world moves towards a more sustainable future, blockchain technology has the potential to play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions, and Polygon is leading the way.

Blockchain technology and environmental sustainability.

A smart contract with planet earth

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The world’s finest photography, carefully curated by our team of experts.

Featuring a diverse range of themes, and artists from around the globe.

Right to print: connect the digital with the physical realm.

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Artwork impressions

Working with both stills and video, Gideon Mendel’s intimate style of image-making and long-term commitment to socially engaged projects has earned international recognition.

Born in Johannesburg in 1959 he began photographing in the 1980s, during the final years of apartheid. This experience as a “struggle photographer”, documenting the brutality of the South African state’s response to peaceful protest, ‘marked him’ on some level and for much of his subsequent career his focus has been on responding to the key global issues facing his generation.

In the early 1990s he moved to the UK and embarked on his longitudinal project on the impact of HIV and AIDS. That photographic odyssey began in London where he documented life in an AIDS ward and expanded to Africa where he has worked with organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, The Global Fund, Treatment Action Campaign, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Action Aid and the Terrene Higgins Trust. The concluding and ongoing chapter [Through Positive Eyes], produced with the UCLA Art and Global Health Center, is a global collaborative project in which Mendel’s role shifted from photographer to enabler, handing over the camera and image making to people living with HIV.

Since 2007 Mendel has been working on *Drowning World*, an art and advocacy project about flooding, his personal response to our climate crisis. The project has been noted for its complex narratives and unusual use of portraiture in extreme conditions. This endeavor has been seen in multiple contexts: it has been exhibited in many galleries, museums and photo festivals; it has been used in climate activism in collaboration with Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion; and it has been published in magazines such as National Geographic, The Guardian Weekend Magazine, The Independent Magazine, The Sunday Times Magazine, Geo and Aperture Magazine.

Amongst many accolades Mendel has won the Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, the Amnesty International Media Award, the Greenpeace Photo Award and he has been shortlisted for the Prix Pictet in 2015 (Disorder) and 2019 (Hope). In 2016 he was the first recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation’s “Pollock Prize for Creativity”.

 Unlock Insider Access to the World of Photography

Unveil offers a new path to discover and collect photography, from the acclaimed and established to global talent

Pushing boundaries and translating issues of global concern.

Gideon Mendel

Thomas Albdorf‘s main interest focuses on photography and sculpture – in particular, the intersection area between both practices, their shifting perceptions, the contemporary status quo of the photographic image and the decontextualization caused by internet distribution. He conceives photography not as the single act of releasing the shutter, but as chain of decisions that ranges from the object’s or subject’s staging to post-processing and the then published image in various media. The basic photograph doesn’t officiate as an enclosed image rather than a space of possibilities and probabilities, primarily enabled via digital post production processes that often leave their visible marks in the final work, revealing their source as well as bringing their conditions of production up for discussion. For Unveil, Albdorf will debut dynamic digital work based on this artistic foundation.

Thomas Albdorf was born in Linz, Austria in 1982. After working for several years as a Graphic Designer and Art Director, he studied Transmedia Art at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, where he graduated in 2013. He was selected as one of 30 international "Artists to Watch" by British Journal of Photography in 2014; he won the UNSEEN Amsterdam Talent Award in 2016. He had his first institutional solo show „Room With a View“ in 2018 at FOAM Amsterdam, followed by his solo show „Mirror Mirror“ at Museum Folkwang in Essen / Germany in 2019. His work has been exhibited throughout galleries in Europe & the United States, and he has been featured / interviewed in magazines like FOAM Magazine, British Journal of Photography, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian and many more.

A space of possibilities and probabilities between photography and sculpture.

Thomas Albdorf

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Wanda Tuerlinckx is a Belgian photographer based in Amsterdam. Her portrait work is part of the collections of the Rijksmuseum and the Amsterdam City Archive.

Since 2016 she has been working on the ‘Robot Portraits’ series in collaboration with human-machine interaction scientist Dr.ir. Erwin R. de Boer. The series combines features of art photography with the scientific photographic narrative introduced in 1841 by William Fox Talbot, who in his own time documented the technical and scientific revolution. Continuing this objective process of scientific registration, Wanda Tuerlinckx records the stages and realizations of robots through the reflective eye of a 19th century camera. By capturing the unfolding robot revolution with a camera from the time of the industrial revolution, Tuerlinckx brings the past, present and future together in one image.

The development of robots over the centuries has been a two-fold goal. On the one hand, robot development is fueled by society’s economic need for cheaper, faster and safer means of production; on the other hand, it has been fueled by a human curiosity to understand what it means to be human.

Tuerlinckx search for this humanity becomes apparent, despite the scientific visual style of the portraits, or perhaps even because of it. This search for humanity in her subjects, and the thoughtful consideration of both style and technique in her work, make it exceptional examples of the power of portrait photography.

Robots through the reflective eye of a 19th century camera.

Wanda Tuerlinckx

Discord is a popular messaging app amongst gamers and web3 natives. Reminiscent of chat rooms in the 90’s, it’s the web3 way of connecting with their community. Unveil uses discord in several ways, we receive submissions from photographers in our server (the term discord uses for your own hub), collectors come together in our community channels and our own team has an internal communication portal within the server. Now, how do *you* join discord? We’ve laid it out for you, if you experience any trouble, of course reach out to us via email, or DMs on one of our social channels. 






Once you have followed the invite link to our discord, you will be prompted to create an account, follow the steps to create your own account and make sure to verify your email and phone number. Our server uses the highest settings for verification to evade bots, so this is a necessary step to enter.

Once you have created your account you will enter the server.

1. The invite will directly bring you to our welcome channel, but before you can interact with our server, you will need to accept the rules. 

2. Once you’ve agreed to the rules, you can head to the verify channel to get full access to the server.

3. Once you start the verification, messages will appear in the channel that are only viewable to you. 

4. Pick the correct option that correlates with the prompted question and your verification will be processed. 

5. You now have full access to the server! You can come say hi in our general chat, post a meme, answer the latest poll, read through our frequently asked questions or create a support request and if you’re a photographer, you will be able to submit your works through discord as well. 

You can find the Unveil Discord page over here: 
https://discord.gg/SPAXmwdaae 

Please join us on Discord for more updates on the platform, launching artists and more.

How to navigate Discord 

Joost Termeer’s work is playful, and partially absurd. There is a colorful reference to the recognizable through the use of everyday objects, yet the images instantly play to the imagination and invite you into a world of their own. By taking elements out of context, something new emerges. The inner dialogue between recognizably and estrangement, confronts the viewer with their own interpretations of the world.
This duality originates in part from a fascination with visual culture and how it relates to our everyday perception of the world, particularly how historically photography was expected to reproduce reality, whereas nowadays we tend to construct our reality based on photographic images that allude to some form of idealized or stylized world. A notion the artist uses playfully throughout his compositions.

This approach roots his work firmly in centuries of still life symbolism, but his use of seemingly random found objects also reference more recent greats like Robert Rauschenberg and his ‘Combines’. Yet despite these seemingly heavy references and traditions, the work is light, colorful, playful and undeniably has a completely original and personal signature.











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Joost Termeer

The blockchain represents a unique opportunity for art photography because it provides a secure, immutable way to create, store, and share digital artwork. The blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that records transactions and records information across a decentralized network of computers. Creators use the blockchain to create immutable, secure, and transparent records of transactions that are resistant to tampering or revision. Using the blockchain, art photographers can easily track who owns the artwork back to its origin. This data can also be used to help determine the authenticity of the artwork, as well as its value and ownership. Additionally, the blockchain can be used to create digital tokens representing the artwork, allowing art to be bought, sold, and traded globally and instantly between creators and collectors.

NFTs are digital representations of ownership that can be bought, sold, and traded almost instantly. This feature has made NFTs incredibly popular in the art world, as many independent photographers are now turning to NFTs to gain more control over their art. NFTs offer numerous advantages for photographers compared to traditional forms of art. For starters, NFTs are much more affordable for independent photographers as there is hardly any upfront cost. Since these NFTs are digital representations, there are no material costs associated with creating and selling NFTs. Meaning photographers can earn first and then issue a print to a client later.

At Unveil, we offer NFTs as a derivative of the print. Meaning the NFTs you sell have a physical print attached to them. The NFT therefore provides the right for the buyer to issue the print.

What is the blockchain and what are NFTs?

Musuk Nolte is Peruvian, Mexican born documentary photographer. His work navigates between documentary and artistic photography, but always with the intent to approach social issues, such as memory and environmental depredation. His deeply personal visual language seems stylised, yet seems to uncover a hidden, almost spiritual reality beneath our normal perception. The images often strike a nerve deep within our subconscious.

Throughout his career, Nolte has often worked with communities and cultures from the Andean and Amazonian regions, integrating their different visions, and the history of violence they have faced, into his images. Nolte holds a degree in professional photography with a specialization in contemporary photography. He has presented 16 solo shows and has been part of several group exhibitions in events such as ParisPhoto, Les Rencontres d’Arles and the III Photoquai Biennale. He has published six books. He has been the recipient of grants from institutions like Magnum Foundation, World Press Photo, the Pulitzer Center, and Elliott Erwitt Fellowship, and is currently a National Geographic Explorer and Bertha Foundation Fellow. He is working on a long-term project about water in different geographical areas of Peru, an issue he has been exploring in the last few years. 

A spiritual reality beneath our normal perception.

A curated platform for photography NFTs

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Impressions of artworks from our selected photographers.

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