My study on Petra Collins for my A2 Media coursework.

1. PETRA COLLINS: ARTIST STUDY
Petra Collins (b. 1992) is a Canadian artist and photographer who is currently based in New York. She attended
the Ontario College of Art and Design but dropped out, and began commercial photography in 2011 at the age of
18.
Her work has been exhibited at the Museum of
Modern Art (New York), Tate Modern (London) and
Art Basel (Hong Kong). Similarly, she curated a book
of feminist art called ‘Babe’ that exhibited her work
alongside the that of thirty other female artists – and
released her own photo book ‘Discharge’ that
encompassed her work from 2008 to 2014. She has
also been published in magazines such as Vogue
and Vanity Fair, with her career taking off thanks to a
resident spot with Rookie magazine. Collins has also
done commercial campaigns for brands such as
Gucci, Nordstrom and Levi’s. She has also ventured
in moving image too, directing music videos for
artists such as Selena Gomez, Carly Rae Jepsen
and Lil Yachty; as well as directing a three-part
documentary ‘Making Space’.
Collins’ work has been lauded for its ethereal look, but
particularly for its strong, hyper-femininity and its
delicate yet vulnerable aesthetic. She is the curator of
female art collective ‘The Ardorous’ as a critique
towards the ‘boys-club’ psyche of the art world. Collins
favours analog versus digital, and shoots her photos
with 35mm film SLR’s with the dreamy hues in her
photos attributed to the cheap colour films she buys at
her ‘local drugstore’. She uses minimal editing
techniques and encourages technical imperfections
such as grain and over or under exposure to allow for a
rawer finish that is more empowering to women.
The collection by Collins that has inspired me most is
“The Teenage Gaze” – a series of intimate photos
that Collins took between 2010-15 that encapsulate
elements of teenage life. I felt particularly drawn to
this series as the music video I am going to be
producing follows a narrative that is somewhat of a
coming-of-age story, and one that examines growth
and vulnerability. These pictures are raw in their
composition as they chronicle rites of passage that
many adolescents can relate to – female or male.
I can apply Collins’ work to my own music video as my work will focus on gender
representation too, but will approach it in a contrasting way. She uses the bright, pastel
tones to represent femininity in a positive way whereas I will incorporate them in a way
that will change the stereotypes of women. The subject of my music video is a girl who
feels uncomfortable in her own skin; and one who longs to break free and experiment
with a more masculine appearance. The use of the feminine pastels in contrast with a
more machismo subject will clearly demonstrate Levi-Strauss’ binary opposition theory
between the girl’s current appearance and what she wishes to become, in conjunction
with the enigma codes I will include that portray a stereotypical representation of both
genders (Barbie dolls for femininity; dark clothing for masculinity) that audiences will
immediately associate each gender with.