A blend of intrigue and allure, with a style that’s as haunting as it is beautiful.
08.19.2024 by Sophie Marie Rendon
“Fairy Tales”
If you’ve spent a lot of time on Instagram or flipped through a fashion magazine, chances are you’ve encountered the evocative work of Petra F. Collins. The Canadian artist and photographer has become a defining voice in contemporary visual culture—not just for her soft, pastel-hued images, but for something far more disruptive. Collins’ is rewriting the rules of the female gaze, creating a new narrative that is as unsettling as it is mesmerizing.
Collins’ work isn’t about conforming to traditional notions of beauty. Instead, she’s subverting them. Her photographs often feel like glimpses into a dream—one where beauty is tinged with something darker, more complex. There’s a deliberate tension in her images, a jarring contrast between soft focus and raw emotion. This isn’t just art for the sake of aesthetics; it’s art that demands a reaction, forcing viewers to confront their perceptions of femininity.
“Idols”
The power of Collins’ work lies in her ability to reclaim the narrative around the female body. In a world where women have often been portrayed through the lens of male desire, Collins’ flips the script, giving women control over their own representation. Her images are intimate yet possess a certain distance, inviting us to look closer while keeping us at arm’s length. This duality makes her work so compelling—femininity, in Collins’ world, is a force both alluring and intimidating, soft yet formidable.
But let’s not mistake this for mere visual experimentation. Collins’ work is a direct challenge to the polished, objectifying lens that has dominated visual culture for so long. She’s smashing conventional beauty standards, offering a new way of seeing that embraces imperfections, rawness, and the unfiltered reality of being a woman. Capturing life in all its messy, complicated glory.
Whether working with global brands like Gucci or capturing intimate moments with friends, Collin’s pursuit of authenticity is unrelenting. Her images are not just a celebration of diversity—they demand it, confronting the sanitized norms that have shaped our visual landscape.
“Olivia Rodrigo – good 4”
What makes Collin’s work even more compelling is how it plays with nostalgia while remaining fiercely contemporary. There’s an eerie beauty to her photos, a sense of something familiar yet disarmingly new. She blends the soft glam of the 70s with the gritty rebellion of the 90s, creating a visual language that feels both timeless and cutting-edge. This ability to evoke discomfort while still being undeniably beautiful sets Collins apart in a world saturated with content.
“Baron”
In a society that often reduces women to objects of desire, Petra Collins’ work is a refreshing reminder of the depth and complexity of the human experience. Her art challenges us to look beyond the surface, to see the vulnerability, the strength, and the contradictions that make us who we are. As Collins continues to push the boundaries of visual culture, one thing is clear: she’s not just redefining the female gaze; she’s redefining what it means to truly see, and be seen, in a world that’s constantly evolving.
“OMG, I’m Being Killed”
Whether you’re captivated by her work or curious about the future of feminist art, Collins is an artist you can’t afford to ignore.
Discover Petra Collins on Instagram or on her website, where art, fashion, and the evolving narrative of femininity collide in the most captivating way.
