Petra Collins is a multi-talented artist and director whose photography set the stylistic tone for much of the 2010s. Shooting since the age of 15, her work is fueled by self-discovery and a contemporary femininity which explore the complex intersection of life as a young woman online and off. Collins weaves through the worlds of art, fashion, film, and music. She is currently working on her narrative feature debut set to shoot in 2021.
Books
2021
Fairytales
Rizzoli, 1st edition, 152 pages, Hardcover, 9 x 11
Fairy Tales is an erotic folklore of short stories shot by Petra Collins starring Alexa Demie. The pair created the concept and text collaboratively. Alexa portrays nine characters that embody new stories they would have liked to see. As children, Petra and Alexa were both enamored with fairy tales, which provided an escape from their own painful realities.
Each of the nine tales are set in unique spaces, ranging from suburban homes and parking lots to fantastical sets. Petra and Alexa’s chapters of elves, mermaids, sirens, water sprites, fallen angels, fairies, witches, and banshees blend their own stories with retold fairy tales. The photos combine elements of camp, prosthetics, and shibari in a surreal update to the imagery of the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, and others.
2020
Miért vagy te, ha lehetsz én is?
Baron Books, 1st edition, 166 pages, Hardcover, 22.00 × 28.50 cm
With the book’s Hungarian title Miért vagy te, ha lehetsz én is? Collins asks us: Why be you, when you can be me? Collins uses the camera as the third person. It captures historical truths (such as a time and place) and an emotional reality with a complicated relationship to intention and perception. Working with the sculptor Sarah Sitkin, Collins creates moulds of her body as well as her sisters to gain ownership, in a world where our bodies live in multiple realities. This new body of work features Collins first experiments with self-portraiture.
2019
OMG, I’m Being Killed
SUPER LABO BOOKS, 1st Edition, Soft Cover.
In a world where filters give us solace, OMG! I’m being killed, is the baby that was birthed in response to 2019. This book is Petra’s ultimate fashion magazine – one that she feels is a good representation of the truth about the age we live in. Filled with unpublished editorials and new works this book offers horrendously satisfying images.
2018
SIX BY XX
Nazraeli Press, 1st Edition, Hardcover
The six titles (and print image sizes on 11 x 14-inch paper) are:
* Petra Collins: “Kamasz Nyar” (print image size 14 x 11 inches – no border)
* Lalla Essaydi: “Lalla Essaydi” (print image size 12 x 9.5 inches)
* Marilyn Minter: “Cunt” (print image size 11 x 14 inches – no border)
* Catherine Opie: “Girlfriends” (print image size 8 x 8 inches)
* Laurie Simmons: “How We See” (“Doll Girls”) (print image size 13.5 x 9.5 inches)
* Mickalene Thomas: “Black is Beautiful” (print image size 13.5 x 10.5 n inches)
2017
Petra Collins: Coming of Age
Rizzoli, 1st Edition, Hardcover
The first monograph by photographer Petra Collins presents the world of a thoroughly modern creative.
2015
Babe
Prestel, 1st Edition, Hardcover
Curated by Petra Collins, featuring artists Arvida Bystrom, Harley Weir, Sandy Kim, Jeanette Hayes, Kristie Muller, and more. Forward by Tavi Gevinson.
Discharge
Capricious. 1st Edition, Softcover
Select Exhibitions
2018, Pacifier (solo exhibition), CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto
2017, A Magazine Curated By (solo exhibition), Art Basel Hong Kong
2017, In Search Of Us(curated), MoMA, New York
2017, CUZ THE GRASS DON’T GROW GREENER AND THE SKY IS BLUE, Praz-Delavallade, Paris
2017, A Magazine Curated By (solo exhibition), Art Basel Hong Kong
2016, FEMALE GAZE, BASE , Milan
2016, The Collective,Uncontaminated Art Festival, Oslo
2016, 24 Hour Psycho” (solo exhibition),Evergold, San Francisco
2016, Sans Titre,Quai de la Tournelle , Paris
2016, Comforter (curated),SFAQ Project Space, San Francisco
2015, Pussy Pat,Mud Guts, Brooklyn
2015, Discharge(solo exhibition), Capricious 88, New York
2015, It’s an Invasion, The National Arts Club, New York
