Petra Collins
The feminist movement is way bigger than the word. I don't police people on what they call themselves, but equality and a general sense of togetherness are really important to me.Collection: Equality
It's so rare to see a woman lose control and also gain it back. Women are always told, 'Oh, be in control of your feelings,' and a woman is never allowed to express her anger without being demonised as being PMS-y.Collection: Anger
My favorite place to go is Zabriskie Point in Death Valley. If you see it at sunrise and sunset, it's like you're on Mars.Collection: Death
Success doesn't happen overnight.Collection: Success
We work to create a new wave of feminism that is more inclusive. I want others to feel equal. It's so great to see women in positions of power, which is why other artists, such as Marilyn Minter, are so inspirational to me.Collection: Inspirational
For me, art doesn't stop at the gallery space.Collection: Space
I think it's important for not just me but women of color, trans women, and people who are marginalized to be telling stories of themselves. It's important for us to be behind the lens.
It's hard for every girl to accept their body. This is something that I try to work on every day to set a good example.
People are always like, 'Did you purposely do something to make people uncomfortable?' And I say the reason why it's uncomfortable is because it's either something that we can't talk about or aren't supposed to talk about, and they're images that aren't ever seen.
My mom had been a script supervisor in Hungary, but you can't just jump into that in Canada without knowing any English. She worked retail jobs and raised my sister and me while learning English.
I think the gender norms of emotion are horrendous. Being masculine means showing zero emotions, but having the choice to be angry or depressed. Being female means you are one dimensional - if you show more than that, you are a psycho, hysterical, or historically, a witch.
Hashtag activism is a catalyst, but things have to actually happen in real life.
I look for subjects who have stories to tell - who are looking to tell something.
I've always been fascinated by the desert.
Oh my God. Brian De Palma. I love him.
I'm definitely a Sagittarius. I'm such a fire sign.
I'm used to being told by society that I must regulate my body to fit the norm. I'm used to the fact that images of unaltered women are seen as unacceptable.
I'm used to seeing women being degraded, slut shamed, harassed for what they look like. Even the most powerful women in the world are measured by their appearance and constantly ridiculed for it.
I consider myself endlessly lucky to have access to the Internet and technology. Through it, I've found myself and have been able to join a new discourse of females, young and old, who strive to change the way we look and treat ourselves.
I know having a social media profile removed is a 21st century privileged problem - but it is the way a lot of us live. These profiles mimic our physical selves and a lot of the time are even more important. They are ways to connect with an audience, to start discussion, and to create change.
It's very insulting when you're in charge and someone is talking down to you.
Being taken seriously as a young woman is the biggest hurdle as I grow older.
I'm very lucky that I'm not a photographer for hire - people hire me for me. I go into every commercial work with an art focus, with that lens; every brand I've worked for just lets me do whatever I want to do. I have full creative freedom.
Social media has been such a big important thing for young artists and minorities because it's a community to get noticed. It's having an audience that was never there before.
That's what I look for in models: Someone who can tell a story and has a presence in front of the camera.
Occasionally, I'll wear glitter or blue eye shadow.
How girls perceive themselves is interesting, and how they act when they're looking in the mirror.
Everyone has a mirror face that's so different from their natural face. And I think it's interesting, seeing the way people want to be viewed when they're putting themselves together.
For me, being in a car listening to music has always been my one spot to think.
It's just so humanizing to see someone be real.
A good jean that fits someone's butt right is just amazing. It's just classic.
I don't know what I would've done without it. I really struggled in school with reading and writing. Art was my refuge - my way of speaking, of dealing with my own issues and connecting with the world.
I didn't see spaces where female artists could exist and exhibit their work. So I created a platform for this - one that allowed our works to be seen, but to also weave a community of women that could lean on and work with one another.
The selfie is revolutionary to me. It is, I think, the only point in history where masses of young girls and women have been able to control, create, and publish images of themselves.
The selfie is a powerful tool, but it can also be dangerous, and I am fascinated with the process of it because there is a level of self-monitoring.
I'm so pro-selfie because I think it's a tool that allows girls to create images of their own and of themselves.
I want people to see themselves in a person. I never want someone to aspire to be someone else.
With social media and all the new technology, there's just more interfaces around and reminders to constantly be working on our body.
When you see stories about women that aren't being told by women, it can make you feel like you don't exist.
I always had this feeling, what I wanted to do. I was trying to work out myself, my frustrations, my body. I couldn't really pinpoint. I started taking photos of my sister and her friends. I was 15, exploring what it meant to be a 15-year-old girl.
Curating, in the modern sense, is something I gravitate to. Taking different ideas from a bunch of different places and putting them into one place or space, a story that makes sense or a new idea. Everything is remixed and taken from other things to make something new.
Just like any other girl, I felt pressure to look a certain way. Act a certain way.
I really don't believe in the word 'selling out.'
Live what you support online; do things.
I get why feminism can be intimidating; sometimes it can seem like this exclusive club.
I was very depressed at a young age and felt like I didn't have agency towards that. Being 'female' meant I couldn't be that - I couldn't be angry, loud, sullen. Being sad meant I was weak.
When a woman is anything but pleasant, she is labeled as whiny, hysterical, etc.
I love working in groups - I think it makes each individual more powerful.
There's definitely a romanticism of youth, like, everywhere. Specifically with women, they kind of only exist between the age of 15 to 25.
I really wanted to feel strong, I wanted my subjects to feel strong, but I didn't know how to do that. It's really hard for, I guess, every woman to not internalize misogyny. I just learned as I went on how to best capture my subjects without objectifying them.