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Approaching it as women, it’s very interesting to play these mythical creatures that don’t necessarily have much agency and give them more agency. It helped too that there was an instant artistic synergy between the pair from their very first day on set together. It’s a familiar refrain to femmes from all walks of life, and one that traditional fairy tales deftly skirt by painting men as saviours to damsels in distress.
Petra Collins: Fairytales - MENDO Petra Collins: Fairytales - MENDO
One filter turned you into characters from the book and the other was a VR portal filled with lush illustrations featured throughout. A MENDO publication is a well-designed book with visually stunning creative content, browsed by people to be amazed and inspired. We may have dreamed of becoming Cinderella or rooted for the Frog Prince’s freedom from a witch’s curse, coming to believe that despite all obstacles, good will always win. In “Sirens,” Demie dons sparkling black mesh, a pink thong, white ankle socks, and Lucite heels before joining another woman on a strip club stage to dance in a timeless tale of the perilous male gaze. The concept was written and brought to life by the two by creating characters and stories they wish were told to them.Shooting since the age of 15, her work is fueled by self-discovery and a contemporary femininity which explore the complex intersection of life as a young woman online and off.
Book Review: Fairy Tales: Petra Collins and Alexa Demie
As children, Petra and Alexa were both enamored with fairy tales, which provided an escape from their own painful realities.Banshee,” a story following two sisters avoiding an encounter with a banshee, plays out like a glamorous urban legend told over a campfire.
Fairy Tales” - F Newsmagazine Book Review: “Fairy Tales” - F Newsmagazine
A mermaid juxtaposing stagnancy and agoraphobia, a fallen angel with an expired lust for life, and a beauty vlogger balancing two lives: influencer and fire goddess. My grandmother would tell me a lot of Mexican folk tales when I was little, which were really scary, but I was so fascinated by them all,” she says. But in these stories, it is the women who must save themselves – one of the many hard-won lessons Collins shares through her work. Petra Collins is a multitalented artist and director whose photography set the stylistic tone for much of the 2010s.Once upon a time, we snuggled under the covers just before drifting to sleep, listening to heroic tales of triumph over adversity. It explores the femininity and sexuality of mythological beings, but in the context of very human spaces, such as teenage bedrooms, medical facilities, parking lots and exotic dancing clubs. In the eighth chapter, “Water Sprite,” the “weird girl” in a college dormitory creates a safe haven in her room, while the exterior campus believes her self-imposed isolation to be something much more sinister. Set designer Nicholas Des Jardins mythologizes everyday settings by placing the characters in the most bizarre situations.
Fairy Tales - Petra Collins
Alexa is currently working on her first EP, developing and producing film and TV, and engaged in social impact work focused on equality and representation, especially for the Latinx community and the next generation of youth. Directing campaigns for high fashion brands such as Gucci and Bulgari, music videos for pop artists Olivia Rodrigo and Carly Rae Jepsen, and developing her first feature film (“ Spiral” starring Selena Gomez), Collins’ work has been publicly recognized in nearly every corner of the entertainment industry. Fairy Tales is a collection of stories that uses the outlandish myths that many girls grew up reading to reveal an unspoken truth about being a woman in a world that aims to control her.
Their recent photo book "Fairy Tales" features Demie as nine different personas, including a faerie, siren, banshee and water sprite, as well as Hungarian legends like Tűz Anya (meaning'fire mother') that Collins grew up with.