Petra Collins
As much as I preach self-love, it's so hard for me to love myself. It's really hard, and it's just about building a good network of people and, in this case, a good network of artists. Trying to live your ideals as best as you can.
You don't have to wait for anyone's approval to do things.
You don't have to try to get a job and go through set steps before you start a career or start your life. That's what I want young girls to know - you can do anything you want. Just start.
My mind is changing all the time. I can't live in a space that has a fixed aesthetic. I just need a blank slate when I come home.
If I have extra money, I always love to support my friends who're making art.
I'm either working or I'm lying in bed the entire day.
Women's emotions are constantly labeled. Any slight deviation from 'pleasantness,' and we are labeled as hysterical. When we are angry, sad, depressed, or manic, we are immediately seen as unfeminine or ugly or weak.
My mother struggled immensely with mental illness, and so did I. She grew up bipolar, but it was never diagnosed nor recognized. It was shrugged off like a 'symptom' of being female - of her being weak. I also experienced this growing up: I felt that the great pain I experienced was a dramatisation.
I was depressed at a very young age - mental illness runs in my family, especially on the female side.
Just being with a group of girls and experiencing sadness together - it's a pretty powerful thing.
It's so important for women to create images of women - or any group, at that.
We live in such an image-heavy world that not seeing yourself in that landscape can really make it tough to feel human, to feel like you are part of the world.
I think a way that feminist photographers work is turning what was the object into the subject and really making it our own.
A thing that I'm always worried about doing is putting an image of myself on my Instagram or somewhere else that looks perfect, because that's not who I am, and that's not what I want to preach.
I'm thin and white and blond, but I'm not an airbrushed, perfect thing. I have stretch marks all over. I have cellulite; I have acne. To me, it feels like you can't really be what you can't see, and so if you don't see those things, then you don't feel like you're valid.
I think being collaborative is definitely more natural for people who are minorities in any sense - so people who aren't, like, white male artists - because we don't have the privilege to create art and work alone, usually.
Art was - and is - my biggest outlet. I'd probably die if I didn't do it.
Because I loved dance, I always need to be physical and moving, so photography that is more tactile made more sense.
On film, you really have to focus on what you're looking at. You're imprinting a physical image.
I didn't really have an identity crisis because I really, really knew who I always wanted to be But I definitely had a lot of problems with my body. I was very skinny, and I guess my body was sort of pre-pubescent, but when I grew hips and thighs, I just didn't know where I was in the world. It was weird.
We have this weird beauty standard where women, like, shouldn't grow: what we think is feminine is often what is also pre-pubescent.
Women are inherently told their bodies are objects, so that's how we treat them.
I just think it's crazy that we don't think that the youth are valid. They're the ones who really know what's going on.
I grew up on Facebook; it's a different realm I live in. For some people, this is inauthentic, but for me, it's all I know.
Feminism is a lens I see the world through and what I believe in. I don't ever use it as a tool of promotion.
As a young woman, I was disturbed by the fact that there was no imagery that truly expressed the experience of a young woman and the challenges and turbulence we go through. All we had were teenage magazines like 'Cosmopolitan,' which are very one-sided and show an objectified view of women.
My lens and my personality, it's just fluid. The art isn't just in one place.
When I do an editorial or when I do a campaign, I bring that lens to every space.
I'm obviously a white woman with privilege. I want to make sure I always collaborate with people who aren't like me so we can create a work that isn't one dimensional.
I want to direct a feature film. Horror is my main genre.
From the beginning of puberty, I did really badly in school. I was super dyslexic; I was in special ed. I had a hard time reading and writing, so I thought that my self worth was in my looks, how I presented myself, and how other people perceived me.
I remember being 12 or 13 and reading 'Seventeen' and 'CosmoGirl.' They were all about self-improvement.
I did two years at art school in criticism and curatorial practice, but I dropped out because I was frustrated that there was this hierarchy where I couldn't do anything or ask questions.
When I was 16, I created this online platform for female artists. I messaged women who I loved; that's how I got work and connected with people. You don't need to plead for entry into a system that doesn't want you anyway.
My style motto is pretty classic: you give off a positive energy when you wear what you're most comfortable in.
I keep this Hungarian wooden candlestick on the top of my refrigerator along with all my other candles. It's big and ugly, especially next to all my pretty candles, and it doesn't really make sense to have in my apartment.
I came to New York with no money and just one suitcase. I had my family's emotional support, but they weren't able to help me financially.
When I was growing up, my parents would apologize when we didn't have enough money for something. I'd always tell them that it was O.K. and that I had learned to work hard because of them.
What's cool is when people send me messages or tag me in their photos, which definitely happens more after a project comes out. The best part, I think, is that the DMs and tags are always from young girls, and reaching them is the most important thing for me.
I post all the time anyway. It's part of who I am. There's me IRL. There's me URL. That's just my life. Plus, I love it. It's amazing to connect with so many people.
I think anytime you can share images that make young women feel a sense of belonging when they might not be feeling their best or their strongest is so cool.
Putting your work out there is scary!
I started out taking photos of my friends on, like, disposable cameras, and I documented my younger sister and her friends all through high school.
I approach beauty the same way I approach clothing - I think people should do whatever to themselves to make them feel more comfortable in their skin.
I wish I didn't think about what my body looks like. It can be done - it's just a long process.
People look the best when they feel the most comfortable, so I buy 10 of the same thing if I really like it.
With any medium you are working in, technical skills obviously help, but your mind is what you really need to expand. That is how you create work. That's the role of the artist - to change the way you view things.Collection: Artist
We [photographers] have the tools and the power to create images - we should try to make them as truthful as possible.Collection: Trying
You don't have to wait for anyone's approval to do things. You don't have to try to get a job and go through set steps before you start a career or start your life. That's what I want young girls to know - you can do anything you want. Just start.Collection: Girl