A new photo book from artist and director Petra Collins, Star traces the imagined rise and unraveling of two fictional pop entities, conjured from the visual and emotional residue of early 2000s celebrity culture. The central figure, Ashley, is a quiet student discovered during a school performance and quickly pushed into the machinery of stardom. As her career develops, the pressures of fame begin to take a toll and she becomes increasingly controlled and isolated, eventually losing touch with her former self before disappearing under unclear circumstances. Photographed in the artist’s distinct, dreamlike visual style in dimly lit bedrooms, backstage corridors and hospital rooms, Collins blends fiction with observations from her own experience around the music industry to scrutinise the impact of fame on personal identity, the role of fandom, and how public narratives are constructed over time.