Brezaja Hutcheson - Petra Collins - Post 6

1. Which of the artist's many technical choices are of interest to you and why?

In all honesty, Collins' work does not peak my interest.  I say this because when I view her portraits, many of them have evoked emotional little response from me, if any. While I do believe that some of her works are intriguing or aesthetically pleasing, they do not reach me on a level that I feel other works from artists that I listed before have.  It is almost as if there is a flatness to them, especially when she photographs people of color.  There is not a lot of depth to them, nor consideration as to how their skin looks under certain lighting, which causes them to look washed out.  Not all of her portraits of people of color look like this, but I feel that she tends to do this more often than not.

In her defense, this seems to be her style, but I personally do not respond to them in a  way that inspires me to create art like it or to take technical elements from her photographs and use them as inspiration for my own. 

2. What do you believe are the artist's conceptual work and/or thematic intentions?

Collins does a lot of editorial work, so I feel that her portraits and shoots are more geared towards that.  Conceptually, she looks soft light, reflection, and colors that are saturated with a slight fade or little contrast.  I believe that she is trying to create a feeling of lightness and airiness about her photos, which comes across through her compositions and lighting choices.  Collins plays with themes of softness and fragility, which is why I believe that she has received such praise in her photos, because she seems to capture the same qualities in the subjects that she depicts.

She usually depicts her subjects wearing fashionable clothes that are flowy and decorative, and then outfits that they wear usually reveal something about their personality, whether it be their interests or if they tie into their identity as an individual.

3. How do you personally respond to these choices and intents?

I believe that I can take certain technical bits from her photos and use them as inspiration, however for the most part, I do not consider Petra Collins an artist that I constantly reference when thinking about portrait photography and my own goals as an artist. I think that while her photos may have that effect on many other people, the goals that I have when I am photographing subjects, landscapes, or whatever else is slightly different. I am more interested in stripping away a layer between the subject and the photographer to get more of a deeper connection between the viewer and the subject, and to have their vulnerabilities show a bit.

However, just because I do not respond to her works personally does not mean that they are not interesting. I just believe that I have a different objective in mind when I think about pursuing a career in photographing people.