WOMAN OF THE HOUR

Petra Collins’ curated aesthetic of pastel-hued portraits and an unconventional approach to photography set the tone for a certain kind of introspective, dreamy, but never-concealing female gaze. She knows how to catch an essence, thanks in part to her unique tools for shoots: amateur models culled from Instagram, Ziploc bags for visual effects, and, most importantly, a specially curated Spotify playlist. She creates the mise en scene of an impromptu sleepover photoshoot, instructing the models to just be themselves. Collins’ first body of work embodies this theme of raw femininity by exploring the complex intersection between adolescence and life online. In an age where the female body is hypermediated by social media, “Discharge” offers an awkward experience of girlhood. The images are snapshots of moody, inward moments that hint at a larger narrative. This book was published in conjunction with Petra’s first solo exhibition in New York, of the same name.

Later that year, Collins released “The Teenage Gaze,” a series of images collected from 2008 to 2015, including those taken when she was 15-years-old. She managed to capture the sheer longing of teenage years, the sense of waiting associated with adolescence: waiting for your friends to get ready, waiting to drive, even waiting for someone to like you. From smoking to gossiping and roaming the halls of school, the scenes are quite powerful. It is intimate but surreal, and nostalgic yet somehow still feels young. Collins would go on to produce dozens of original art, including a strange experiment in self-portraiture, “Miért vagy te, ha lehetsz én is”, and her personal take on the performative femininity of fashion editorials in “OMG, I’m Being Killed.”

In recent years, she has become a household name due to her involvement with Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” music video, as well as her work in commercial and editorial shoots, photographing for Interview, Vogue, and Gucci. It is her early work, however, that established the standard for contemporary photography and has been essential to the dialogue of the spectrum of female beauty. She embodies what it means to be a girl in our everchanging, hyper-connected world while remaining deep in her own style.