If I have extra money, I always love to support my friends who're making art.
— Petra Collins
You don't have to wait for anyone's approval to do things.
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.
I look for subjects who have stories to tell - who are looking to tell something.
Hashtag activism is a catalyst, but things have to actually happen in real life.
I really don't believe in the word 'selling out.'
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.
When you see stories about women that aren't being told by women, it can make you feel like you don't exist.
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 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.
It's just so humanizing to see someone be real.
How girls perceive themselves is interesting, and how they act when they're looking in the mirror.
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.
It's very insulting when you're in charge and someone is talking down to you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There's definitely a romanticism of youth, like, everywhere. Specifically with women, they kind of only exist between the age of 15 to 25.
When a woman is anything but pleasant, she is labeled as whiny, hysterical, etc.
I get why feminism can be intimidating; sometimes it can seem like this exclusive club.
Just like any other girl, I felt pressure to look a certain way. Act a certain way.
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.
With social media and all the new technology, there's just more interfaces around and reminders to constantly be working on our body.
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 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.
For me, being in a car listening to music has always been my one spot to think.
Occasionally, I'll wear glitter or blue eye shadow.
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.
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.
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.
Oh my God. Brian De Palma. I love him.
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.
If your story is being told by someone who doesn't really know it, it's not going to come out accurate. A lot of it has to do with context. Whoever's behind the camera or pen or whatever.
I love working in groups - I think it makes each individual more powerful.
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.
Live what you support online; do things.
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.
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.
I want people to see themselves in a person. I never want someone to aspire to be someone else.
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.
A good jean that fits someone's butt right is just amazing. It's just classic.
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.
That's what I look for in models: Someone who can tell a story and has a presence in front of the camera.
Being taken seriously as a young woman is the biggest hurdle as I grow older.
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'm definitely a Sagittarius. I'm such a fire sign.
