At the ripe old age of 24, Petra Collins is showing work alongside Juergen Teller and hitting up Tokyo with Alessandro Michele. But the Canadian photographer/artist/muse’s dreamy depictions of girlhood are still intensely personal. In February, Petra transported us to the sleepy Hungarian countryside for a Gucci project inspired by her childhood in Budapest. Now she’s taking us north of the border to her other hometown of Toronto. As part of the 2017 CONTACT photo fair, Petra will present her first solo exhibition in Canada, an intimate selection of photos shot in Toronto and Budapest over the past two years.

A recurring figure in Pacifier is Petra’s sister Anna. The artist, ballet dancer, and online girl guru has long been one of Petra’s muses, navigating adolescence in front of her older sister’s lens as they together explore femininity, friendships, and sexuality. In one photo she’s shot close-up and crying, bathed in a deep purple glow. Other images show Petra’s friends piled up in a shared bed, and her father’s aging hand resting underneath her own unlined skin. Like most of Petra’s photographs, they’re at once sentimental, radical, and deeply relatable.
“Pacifier” is on view at CONTACT Gallery in Toronto from April 29 through June 24, 2017.



Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Photography Petra Collins