Petra Collins: STAR

Petra Collins is a multi-talented artist and director whose photography set the stylistic tone for much of the 2010s. Shooting since the age of 15, her work is fueled by self-discovery and a contemporary femininity which explore the complex intersection of life as a young woman online and off. Collins weaves through the worlds of art, fashion, film, and music. She is working on her first feature film.

"In her new book...Petra Collins, a photographer who helped shape the millennial aesthetic, lets us peek through her diffuse lens." — NEW YORK TIMES"My book Star, which comes out with Rizzoli this April. It’s one of the most cinematic works I’ve made. I shot it like a feature film. It moves through fictional pop stars, obsession, fandom, performance and the violence of being seen." — PETRA COLLINS TO CHRISTIE'S"Her most narrative project yet, the five-chapter journey follows two fictional pop icons, Ashley and Siren8, as they navigate the throes of fame and the fine line between fans and stalkers. Here, Collins taps into her filmmaking roots as she captures obsession turned to violence, admiration to surveillance and a life in the public eye proving that all that glitters is not gold." — HYPEBEAST.COM"The book is so stunning. It feels like such a true portrayal of what I perceive to be stardom and celebrity, but what I know to be fandom and the velocity of being a fan." — JENNY TINGHUI ZHANG FOR VOGUE"It was important for the book to not bear a singular perspective. “You aren’t sure who’s the author in this story,” she explains. “It could be told from the perspective of Ashley, the main pop star, but it could also be a fan making this up in their head, in their bedroom. That was intentional: I wanted the world to feel a little confusing, where you don’t know what the truth is. There’s an emphasis on the idea of no one authoring this story.'" — PETRA COLLINS TO W MAGAZINE"Collins returns to her filmmaking background to capture obsession turning to violence, admiration turning into surveillance and life in the public eye. This is a poignant exploration of how everything may not always be as it seems." — HYPEBAE.COM"And that’s why this book is a horror story. Especially now, fame is the scariest thing ever. Everyone wants it, and no one realizes that it’s the worst thing in the world. It’s not natural for someone to be seen by that many people. No one really understands the depths of horror and despair that people feel when they’re famous. When I was in middle school in the late 2000s, before all the indie sleaze stuff, it was aspirational to be famous. I think it was super uncool for a while, but now it’s aspirational again, and it comes with way more consequences." — PETRA COLLINS TO I-D