Petra Collins Early life Petra Collins attended the

Petra Collins

Early life • Petra Collins attended the Rosedale Heights School of the Arts and OACD University(Ontario College of Art and Design). This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Early career • Collins began taking pictures in high school. [2] She met Richard Kern while assisting him on a shoot, and he became her mentor. [2] Simultaneously, Collins became a frequent subject of photographer Ryan Mc. Ginley, and would go on to become one of his proteges. [4] Collins began venturing into the art world, appearing in shows that featured her own work, and curating shows featuring her art collective, The Ardorous. Coinciding with the time of Collins's rising success in the art world, her Instagram account was removed from the platform after the artist posted a photo of herself unwaxed in a bikini. Following the removal of her account, Collins wrote an essay for The Huffington Post, speaking out against the misogyny which informs media depictions of women's bodies. In 2014, Collins' first solo exhibition, "Discharge", a photo series spanning between 2008 and 2014, from ages 15– 2

• Since 2015 she has directed collaborated and appeared in various videos…. Collins has also become Directing heavily involved in directing, ranging from documentaries, to music videos, to more abstract art pieces. In 2015, she directed a three-part documentary series entitled Making Space, which documents and explores what it means to be a young person in today's constantly changing, hyperconnected world. The documentary follows young girls in dance, as they discover and connect with the world around them through that medium. Other projects Collins has directed include Carly Rae Jepsen's music video for her 2015 single 'Boy Problems' and Cardi B's 2018 single 'Bartier Cardi'. [15] She has also directed advertisements for Gucci, Adidas, and Nordstrom. Her directorial work reflects the same colorful, airy aesthetic found in her photograph

The Ardorous • I created The Ardorous in my last year of high school three years ago. I had been taking photos and producing work for four years and was getting frustrated with the lack of outlets to share my work. I wanted to see and create work that inspired me and empowered me as a young woman but never experienced that. So I decided to take action and start a platform that would allow young female artists to get their work seen and collaborate with one another.

The art world has always been a "boys' club". Its hard for us to see a place in society when there is no space to produce and share ideas of our own. You can walk into a museum like the Met or MOMA and less than 5 per cent of the work is created by women (not to mention Wo. C). Art "has the ability to set ideals, philosophical concerns, and cultural conditions" (1), so growing up in a society where images for and of women are actually created by and for men leaves little room for a healthy, unbiased view of the female gender. This destructive culture of a one-sided representation needs to change. I want to offer an alternative to this landscape we live on, one that celebrates women and the power that we hold. My goal is to question the current ideology of femininity and recast women in positive/dominant roles. The Ardorous offers work by an array of international female artists whose practices demonstrate their struggle with the female identity. We're constantly growing as a collective, starting with 15 members to now almost 40. We've now had two groups shows and have one coming up in March and are also working on our first book with Prestel Publishing company. I'm excited to grow and continue to put a spotlight on hard working female artists that deserve to have their voice heard.

One of the things that drew me to Petra is her description of her photography process. ”I am pretty passive shooter- again this is why I like working with a group, because they can take over. I am just one person with a camera and they direct the mood and direction I go in. I just show them where to direct my spotlights, but that’s about it. ”

In 2010, photographer Petra Collins created the website "The Ardorous" as an online platform for young female artists. Reacting to the male-dominated art world, the group's goal is to question contemporary ideologies of femininity and recast women in positive, empowered roles.

Petra has showed the ability to explore the female sexuality not just by being inn front of the lens but behind it. Filmography 2015 Carly Rae Jepsen - "Boy Problems" (music video) • Adidas Stella. Sport - "Break a Sweat" (film) • Making Space - "Time Will Tell" feat. Blood Orange (music video) • Making Space Part 3 of 3 (film) • Making Space Part 2 of 3 (film) • Making Space Part 1 of 3 (film) • Drive Time for COS (film) 2016 • Georgia O'Keefe - Interpreted by Petra Collins (film) • Lil' Yachty - "All In" (film) • Lil' Yachty - "Keep Sailing" (music video) 2017 • Hungarian Dream for Gucci Eyewear (film) • Spring 2017 at Nordstrom (film) • Selena Gomez - "Fetish" (music video) 2018 • Cardi B - "Bartier Cardi" (music video) • "A Love Story

February 28, 2014 was the date of Petra’s 1 st solo exhibit. The exhibition was a showing of the first 6 years of her work that she started at the age of 15. Ppetra described this show as basically a chronicaling of not just a representation f the female body, but her own personal journey into puberty. From the significance of the name of the piece “discharge” which she uses as a type of double-meaning. Used not only to describe a natural occurrance for girls that can be viewed as dirty although natural and cleansing and necessary part of being female in general, but also as a personal description in the creation oh her work to cleanse herself. Petra states that although her work is sometimes seen as gross, its really a positive thing.

Babe Curated by Petra Collins featuring over 30 Female Artists from around the world. Babe includes work by Collins as well as over 30 artists who have been part of her online collective The Ardorous. Though their work is aesthetically varied, it all represents a current zeitgeist characterized by explorations of female identity, scrutinization of the role of the Internet and social media, and a penchant for pastel colors. The artists in the book, such as Arvida Bystrom, Sandy Kim, Harley Weir, Jeanette Hayes, and Kristie Muller, hail from a variety of places, including New York, London, Moscow, Stockholm, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Toronto. Together they reflect an all-accepting, affirming, distinctly female point of view that teens and young women everywhere can respond to. With a Foreword by Tavi Gevinson, writer, actress, fashion blogger, and creator of the online magazine Rookie, this is an inspiring collection for a new generation of creative, forward thinking women.

One of the goals of Petra’s is to try to create images of things that aren’t necessarily spoken about, or what we want to see. She feels that as women we are taught to live weird double lives, like when puberty and the body changes brought with it starts, you have to hide it. Petra ha made a goal to bring in taboo topics of puberty, because she wants people to have to deal with it and look at it. This seems to be a basis in most of Petra’s work. Art through a definite female point of view, but also shown from an “alternative female perspective” than those usually expressed by the somewhat still largely male point of view.