Petra Collins – Paving the Way
Canadian photographer, director, and all-around artist Petra Collins has become an undeniable influence within media, producing stunning, ethereal images that blend contemporary culture with a nostalgic aesthetic. From working with industry giants such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Gucci, and Coach to creating multiple editorials for Vogue, i-D, and The Face, Collins has had a tremendous hand in shaping today’s visual culture. She often uses the weight of the female gaze to create thought-provoking pictures and videos that challenge societal norms. Mini skirts, bikinis, and lace clash with dismembered limbs, fire, and chains—both alluring and obscene.
Collins’ journey began at the age of fifteen when she started practicing photography at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. She later studied art criticism and curatorial practice at the Ontario College of Art and Design before leaving after two years due to financial difficulties. With a background in ballet, Collins once believed dance and expression through movement would be her lifelong path. But after dislocating her knee, those dreams came to an end.
Through her school, Collins borrowed a camera and began photographing her sister and friends. Photography quickly became the outlet she had been searching for to express herself and the experience of womanhood. At seventeen, she met American filmmaker and photographer Richard Kern at a show in Toronto and asked to be his assistant. Working alongside Kern, Collins refined her style, and echoes of his fascination with sex, perversion, and raw aesthetics can still be seen in her work today.
In 2010, Collins created the website The Ardorous, a platform for female artists to publish their work. Growing up in the early 2000s, she found it a confusing time for young women—seen as objects of desire and sex, yet pressured to remain pure and untouched. The Ardorous became more than an art platform; it was a commentary on contemporary ideologies of women.
Collins began her solo career with her book Discharge, a seven-year-long project that she started at fifteen. Published in 2015, the book documents a journey of self-discovery during a formative period when the ever-changing teenage body is brought into the light of social media and “the norm.” Discharge explores the intersection of life as a young woman both online and offline, including intimate, private moments between Collins and her friends.
In 2016, Collins was named to multiple “ones to watch” lists, such as Vogue’s 40 Creatives to Watch and Dazed & Calvin Klein’s 100 Creatives Shaping Youth Culture—and rightly so.
Her next project, Miert Vagy Te, Ha Lehetsz Én Is (2019), translates from Hungarian to “Why be you, when you can be me?” For this work, Collins collaborated with artist Sarah Sitkin to create a bodysuit of herself. The project allowed her to physically remove herself from the image while still photographing herself. The resulting images are dark and unsettling but reflect Collins’ desire to revisit the past. With her recurring themes of sex, violence, and the grotesque, it’s no surprise many of her projects, shoots, and campaigns were rejected. In response, Collins published OMG! I’m Being Killed (2019), a book compiling much of her rejected work.
In the years that followed, Collins entered the mainstream, directing major fashion campaigns, music videos, and editorials. Lil Yachty, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Selena Gomez were among the artists to have music videos directed by her. She also became a frequent collaborator with pop icon Olivia Rodrigo, directing four of her music videos. Collins has photographed celebrities including Tyler, the Creator, Rihanna, and Billie Eilish.
From borrowing a school camera to working with some of the biggest names in fashion and music, Collins has stayed true to her hazy, ethereal aesthetic, her commentary on adolescence and sexuality, and her resistance to mainstream ideologies about women.
Today, the dreamy, cinematic visual language of Petra Collins can be experienced at the Daelim Museum in Seoul, South Korea. Her exhibition fangirl features over 500 works, including photography, video, fashion, and archival material. The show traces her evolution from early projects to recent collaborations in the spotlight, while exploring themes of fangirl culture, youth, and online identity. The exhibition runs until December 31, 2025.
By Jack Murray
Edited by Niall Carey
