Petra Collins

Petra Collins (born December 21, 1992) is a Canadian and Hungarian filmmaker, photographer, artist, and model, who rose to prominence in the early 2010s. Her photography is characterized by a feminine, dreamlike feel, informed in part by a female gaze approach. She was a resident photographer for Rookie magazine and a casting agent for Richard Kern. She has also directed a number of short films, including music videos for Carly Rae Jepsen, Lil Yachty, Selena Gomez, Cardi B, and Olivia Rodrigo.

She has been labeled an "it girl" by photographer and mentor Ryan McGinley and by Vanity Fair and The New Yorker magazines. In 2016, Collins was chosen as a face of Gucci.

Early life and education Petra Collins was born in Toronto, the eldest child of a Hungarian mother and a Canadian father. It was at Rosedale at the age of 15, Collins began practicing the art of photography. Collins attended Ontario College of Art and Design for two years to study artistic criticism and curatorial practice.

Early career Collins began taking pictures in high school. Her work started gaining recognition online, in the early 2010s, through her collaborations with Tavi Gevinson and Rookie magazine. 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 Oyster Magazine, later republished in 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 15–21, was hosted at the Capricious 88 Gallery in New York. Collins went on to publish the photo series as a book with Capricious Publishing in 2014.

Art and photography In 2010, Collins created the website "The Ardorous" as an online platform for young female artists.

In 2016, Collins was named one of Dazed & Calvin Klein's 100 Creatives Shaping Youth Culture and one of Vogue's 40 Creatives To Watch in 2016. Collins was also named one of 30 Artists to Watch by Artsy.

Collins hosted her first public art piece with Contact Photo on April 29, 2017, at King and Spadina in Toronto, Canada.

When shooting photography, Collins exclusively uses 35 mm film.

Directing 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. Other projects Collins has directed include Carly Rae Jepsen's music video for her 2015 single "Boy Problems", Cardi B's 2018 single "Bartier Cardi" and Olivia Rodrigo's 2021 single "Good 4 U" and "brutal". She has also directed advertisements for Gucci, Adidas, and Nordstrom.

Work on Euphoria At the invitation of Sam Levinson, Collins moved to Los Angeles in 2018/2019 to work on the HBO series Euphoria. Collins stated that Levinson told her "I wrote a show based on your photos. Will you direct it?" , and spent five months developing the series with Levinson, including casting principal actors, before being dismissed for being "too young" to direct.

Collins stated that the worst thing "was when people were unknowingly saying this show looks like your photos" , referring to the heavily stylized look of Euphoria. Even before Collins revealed her version of events, reviewers of Euphoria pointed out the similarities between the work.

Modeling and acting In 2014 and 2015, Collins was cast in a supporting role in Amazon's award-winning television series, Transparent.

In 2016, Petra was tapped as a new face of Gucci, and walked in their 2016 F/W Fashion Show in Milan. She also starred in their 2016 F/W campaign.

Literary work Collins' first book, Discharge, was published by Capricious Publishing. The series was first an exhibition of the same name, hosted at the Capricious 88 gallery.

In a collaboration with Euphoria star Alexa Demie, who she first met via Instagram in 2020, Collins and Demie released an erotic photography book that reimagined fairy tales from their childhood through an erotic lens. The 152-page hardbound book collected nine different short tales accompanied by images of Demie dressed up as different mythical beings, was released by Rizzoli on November 30, 2021.

In 2026, once again in collaboration with Rizzoli, Collins released her book STAR, a photography book which explores the topics of fame, fanhood and obsession through the lives of fictional popstars.

Filmography Film Year Name Notes 2015 Drive Time Short film Adidas StellaSport – "Break a Sweat" Short film Making Space Three-part documentary short Lil' Yachty – "Keep Sailing" Short film 2017 Hungarian Dream for Gucci Eyewear Short film Spring 2017 at Nordstrom 2018 A Love Story Short film TBD Spiral Feature film

Television Year Title Note(s) 2023 American Horror Stories Episode: "Organ"

Music videos