“I started a tumblr a couple years ago, and I would get all these questions from girls in need of advice,” explains 19-year-old Anna Collins. On her page, Female Fiasco, she posts pictures of her and her friends (often taken by her sister, photographer Petra Collins), inspiration images of Cher Horowitz – and, more recently, responses to that incident with Richard Prince, who earlier this year co-opted her Instagram photo for his show New Portraits. But most of the space is taken up by long paragraphs of pink text about female empowerment.
Anna has become a kind of agony sister for other girls on the internet. And answering that many questions takes a lot of time. Especially when she’s also training to become a ballet teacher at Canada’s National Ballet School. “My boyfriend’s mom asked me why I didn’t just make videos,” Anna told i-D. “And instead of typing novels onto my tumblr page, it just became the right thing to do.”
Her #askannaballins YouTube series now has four videos and counting. In the first she answers questions about self worth with her group of friends (and her King Charles Spaniel, Freddy) – she gives advice like your older sister and breaks things down like your best friend. And the others cover anxiety, sex and love, and body image. “I get a lot of questions about body image,” she says. “As well as questions from girls who have been sexually assaulted or whose friends have been. These are things that aren’t talked about.”
Next up, she has plans to share episodes about life after high school, trips to the gynecologist, safe sex, and the need for diversity. But Anna says you can literally ask her anything. Just DM her. “I read every single question.”
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson