Petra Collins

“Just being with a group of girls and experiencing sadness together - it's a pretty powerful thing.”

“My favorite place to go is Zabriskie Point in Death Valley. If you see it at sunrise and sunset, it's like you're on Mars.”

“I think being collaborative is definitely more natural for people who are minorities in any sense - so people who aren't, like, white male artists - because we don't have the privilege to create art and work alone, usually.”

“As much as I preach self-love, it's so hard for me to love myself. It's really hard, and it's just about building a good network of people and, in this case, a good network of artists. Trying to live your ideals as best as you can.”

“It's so rare to see a woman lose control and also gain it back. Women are always told, 'Oh, be in control of your feelings,' and a woman is never allowed to express her anger without being demonised as being PMS-y.”

“Hashtag activism is a catalyst, but things have to actually happen in real life.”

“I don't know what I would've done without it. I really struggled in school with reading and writing. Art was my refuge - my way of speaking, of dealing with my own issues and connecting with the world.”

“On film, you really have to focus on what you're looking at. You're imprinting a physical image.”

“I've always been fascinated by the desert.”

“The feminist movement is way bigger than the word. I don't police people on what they call themselves, but equality and a general sense of togetherness are really important to me.”

“As a young woman, I was disturbed by the fact that there was no imagery that truly expressed the experience of a young woman and the challenges and turbulence we go through. All we had were teenage magazines like 'Cosmopolitan,' which are very one-sided and show an objectified view of women.”

“I didn't really have an identity crisis because I really, really knew who I always wanted to be But I definitely had a lot of problems with my body. I was very skinny, and I guess my body was sort of pre-pubescent, but when I grew hips and thighs, I just didn't know where I was in the world. It was weird.”

“My lens and my personality, it's just fluid. The art isn't just in one place.”

“When a woman is anything but pleasant, she is labeled as whiny, hysterical, etc.”

“How girls perceive themselves is interesting, and how they act when they're looking in the mirror.”

“People are always like, 'Did you purposely do something to make people uncomfortable?' And I say the reason why it's uncomfortable is because it's either something that we can't talk about or aren't supposed to talk about, and they're images that aren't ever seen.”

“Women are inherently told their bodies are objects, so that's how we treat them.”

“I think it's important for not just me but women of color, trans women, and people who are marginalized to be telling stories of themselves. It's important for us to be behind the lens.”

“You don't have to wait for anyone's approval to do things.”

“I get why feminism can be intimidating; sometimes it can seem like this exclusive club.”