Co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Futures is a platform focused on amplifying emerging talents in photography in Europe. Since 2017, the project has been offering a full programme to increase the capacity, mobility and visibility to various artists selected every year by leading art institutions across Europe.
Members of the Futures are: CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la fotografia (IT), Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center (HU), PhotoIreland Festival (IE), Fotofestiwal Lodz (PL), Deichtorhallen Hamburg (DE), Photo Romania Festival (RO), PhotoEspaña (ES), FOMU (BE), Copenhagen Photo Festival (DK), Void (GR), Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie (FR), Stiftelsen Fotogalleriet (NO), Fotografska Udruga Organ Vida (HR), Stichting FOTODOK (NL), Eurokleis s.r.l. (IT), Biedriba ISSP (LV), Fotograf Magazine (CZ), Der Greif (DE) and financial support to Plataforma de Fotografia Ci.Clo (PT).
As a Futures member, Fotograf Magazine will nominate five artists working with photography every year. These artists will receive support in terms of digital network events, a large-scale gathering once a year with the Futures’ members present and an artist fee.
The selection of talent is based on the artists’ previous collaboration with Fotograf Magazine based in Prague. Publication in the periodical thus forms a sieve through which talents from mainly Central European countries are further selected for the Futures platform. What is characteristic of our magazine, however, is the interest in themes reporting on the state of the contemporary world, and this is also reflected in this year’s mix of new talents. Each represents a different and varied approach to work with their own visual expression often related to the personal genesis that led to the chosen topic.
We are delighted to announce that the five Futures Talents nominated by Fotograf Magazine in 2024 are:
Barbora Bačová
I am gonna live my life, 2019–2020
Karina Golisová
Like everyone else, I have to be somewhere too., 2022
Oskar Helcel
Past Future, 2019
Under Construction, 2023
Ines Karčáková
Dancing Makes You As Happy As a 2073,35 Euro Pay Rise, 2020
Flowers are giving up, 2024
Nadia Markiewicz
DRIVE–THRU, 2022
Carolyn, 2024
Barbora Bačová – I am gonna live my life, 2019–2020.
Photography is about the search. Some seek through the medium to discover where they belong, while others explore new places waiting to be uncovered. Some aim to find their own narrative, while others push the boundaries of the photographic medium, ultimately leading everyone on a quest for truth. Whether it’s understanding themselves or the world around them, the pursuit is there. Yet, in a world where absolute truth is elusive, the only recourse is to embrace one’s attempt at a fresh perspective and a revision of established ideas. And this is the point of view for discovering new talents, relishing the diverse ways individuals seek for new ways of reporting on their chosen subjects.
For certain artists, seamlessly transitioning between photography, moving images, installations, or performance has become increasingly natural. At Fotograf.zone, we recognize the importance of not dismissing this diversity in favor of any particular medium. In response to the current era where various forms are becoming hybridized, we aim to prevent photography from being confined to a two-dimensional state. Instead, we encourage exploration of all possible means of expression. It is within the intersections of these disciplines that we encounter variety, diversity, and often, innovation. These intersections provide a glimpse into the near future and emerging trends, helping us better comprehend their connections to societal implications.
“Where’s the gold?” Asks the pseudo-fictional character from Oskar Helcel’s Under Construction, who works with the real cause of posthumous realisation as designed by Zaha Hadid. It is a recently completed complex of commercial and office buildings in the very centre of Prague at Masaryk railway station, which is surrounded by a number of controversies, especially concerning the investor itself, the financial group Penta, which is connected to the Slovak mafia reaching up to the local government ranks and the infamous Gorilla corruption case that has been going on in Slovakia for many years. Other controversies concern the approval process for the building within the historic centre, but also the gradual changes in Zaha Hadid’s design itself after her passing from this world. Oskar Helcel works with the figure of the architect as a mysterious guide from the world of the dead, who through a kind of biblical commentary as she roams through the building asks us disturbing questions about power, while at the same time this principle serves as an illustration to the audience of the inability of certain larger wholes to change from the position of the individual. Among other things, a rather interesting quote emerges from the video: “And gold is not golden enough.” This sentiment can serve as a bridge to the artist’s second project, a series of photographs from the “great steppe” in Kazakhstan. These vast expanses of barren, salty soil were initially earmarked for a space headquarters during the Soviet Union’s foray into space exploration. Titled Past Future, the images from this region obliterate the boundaries of time, revealing how different eras leave indelible traces that intertwine and resist separation. Only by pulling the trigger does one gain the proper distance for further analysis. The photographs shed light on the convergence of political and religious ideologies, where grand gestures and minute details coalesce in a desert, becoming woven into the everyday life of the spaceport.
Space and time and the banality of everyday life are the motifs pervading Ines Karčáková’s work. She is interested in how society relates to the universe, both from the position of the individual and corporations that focus primarily on conquest and profit. In Dancing Makes You As Happy As a 2073.35 Euro Pay Rise, the artist seeks to uncover the motivations associated with activities based on the previously idealistic vision of conquering the moon, which are now having a very concrete impact on consumer life on planet Earth in the form of, for example, scratch-resistant glass; increasingly lightweight, high-capacity batteries, memory foam or fireproof materials, to GPS. At times poetic, at others rather laconic, he comments on the unsustainability of the pursuit of profit. The same is the case with her project Flowers are giving up, which comments on a completely new phenomenon where, according to recent studies, some plants are evolving to self-pollinate due to the decline of insects. The author is fascinated by the speed of these processes, which respond to a state of climatic emergency that is a mere nanoparticle in the timeline of life on Earth. The aspect of time is also present in the chosen form of appropriated found photographs in combination with the author’s own photographs from the present. It seems as if she is appealing above all for a change in understanding or relating to time, which we are limited to and which, according to the current state of the environment, we obviously cannot handle.
Karina Golisová provides insight into the structures of everyday life and relationships. Her curiosity extends beyond individuals to encompass the surfaces of objects, as well as their external layers, which captivate her visually. In her portraits, the materials and objects surrounding the subjects play a significant role, adding depth to the visual narrative. While her images often depict attempts to capture chaos, a closer look reveals a certain regularity or axial symmetry. Golisová seamlessly blends calm and quiet compositions with energetic portrayals of urban subcultures, of which she is an active participant. Stepping into the role of a community member, her images reflect not only an observer’s interest but also a personal connection to the community’s life. Her project, Like everyone else, I have to be somewhere too, delves into the concept of anchoring oneself within the intricate fabric of community life. It explores the affirmation of existence and identity within the complex interplay of shared experiences.
Barbora Bačová also gives a glimpse into her intimate zone through her project I am gonna live my life. It is natural for her to conceive of working with photography much more as a process than focusing on a specific result. In other words, the quantity and variety of photographs are more important aspects of her work than how a photograph “turned out” or whether it was successful. Many of the images could conventionally be considered unsuccessful, which certainly appeals to the artist in some way, and she finds her signature in this approach. In a very intuitive way, through the jumble of a diverse range of images framed in all sorts of ways in the context of a photo album or zine, we can sense the complex situation in her immediate surroundings. Melancholic images are followed by banal domestic scenes, from which medical equipment stand out, evoking concern for a loved one and fear of the future. At the same time, the title of the project lends the overall message to that leitmotif often promoted in the media and advertising in the sense of “you can do it” or “you can live your life”, which can be a functional or just a false affirmation for such a fragile question concerning one’s own existence.
The exploration of the culture surrounding the body and its definition of the ideal form is a central theme in Nadia Markiewicz’s work. In her installation DRIVE-THRU, where she combines objects, photography and video, she addresses the very fundamental question of not fitting into the normative formula given by society. First of all, to start with a thought – how many celebrities do you know with incomplete bodies, for example? DRIVE-THRU is based on the story of wedding couple with non-normative bodies, whose story gave rise to the idea of holding weddings in a car. Through pop culture symbols with inherent irony, the author asks essentially very simple questions on behalf of those who do not abound with normative bodies. Do we bother you? Or. What is love? In her next project, a series of photographs under the title Carolyn, Nadia Markiewicz turns this time, instead, to herself and her relationship with someone very close to her who is facing an early end due to a very serious illness. It is Carolynn Josephine Goracy who, together with the artist, participates in a very fresh and fragile project that traces the passing of a young person from this world and her interest in fashion, death-related motifs and Goth culture. What stands out most in Nadia Markiewicz’s oeuvre is her courage in engaging with her own corporeality. She fearlessly dismantles deeply ingrained stereotypes, challenging the conventional way we perceive the world with a blend of respect, humor, and elegance.
Nadia Markiewicz – DRIVE–THRU, 2022.
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