Top 66 Petra Collins Quotes

For me, art doesn’t stop at the gallery space.

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 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.

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.

I was depressed at a very young age – mental illness runs in my family, especially on the female side.

When I do an editorial or when I do a campaign, I bring that lens to every space.

My style motto is pretty classic: you give off a positive energy when you wear what you’re most comfortable in.

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 lens and my personality, it’s just fluid. The art isn’t just in one place.

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.

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.

It’s so important for women to create images of women – or any group, at that.

If I have extra money, I always love to support my friends who’re making art.

For me, being in a car listening to music has always been my one spot to think.

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.

I get why feminism can be intimidating; sometimes it can seem like this exclusive club.

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 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.

Just like any other girl, I felt pressure to look a certain way. Act a certain way.

I’m definitely a Sagittarius. I’m such a fire sign.

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.

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.

I remember being 12 or 13 and reading ‘Seventeen’ and ‘CosmoGirl.’ They were all about self-improvement.

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’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.

Occasionally, I’ll wear glitter or blue eye shadow.

When you see stories about women that aren’t being told by women, it can make you feel like you don’t exist.

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.

Women are inherently told their bodies are objects, so that’s how we treat them.

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.

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’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.

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.

How girls perceive themselves is interesting, and how they act when they’re looking in the mirror.

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.

With social media and all the new technology, there’s just more interfaces around and reminders to constantly be working on our body.

It’s very insulting when you’re in charge and someone is talking down to you.

I really don’t believe in the word ‘selling out.’

Because I loved dance, I always need to be physical and moving, so photography that is more tactile made more sense.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

I want people to see themselves in a person. I never want someone to aspire to be someone else.

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 look for subjects who have stories to tell – who are looking to tell something.

Being taken seriously as a young woman is the biggest hurdle as I grow older.

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 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.

On film, you really have to focus on what you’re looking at. You’re imprinting a physical image.

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.

I love working in groups – I think it makes each individual more powerful.

When a woman is anything but pleasant, she is labeled as whiny, hysterical, etc.

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.

I’ve always been fascinated by the desert.

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.

I want to direct a feature film. Horror is my main genre.

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.

Hashtag activism is a catalyst, but things have to actually happen in real life.

I wish I didn’t think about what my body looks like. It can be done – it’s just a long process.

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 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.

Putting your work out there is scary!

It’s just so humanizing to see someone be real.

You don’t have to wait for anyone’s approval to do things.