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Rick Castro was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Monterey Park, California. He moved to Hollywood at the age of seventeen and has lived there ever since.
He took fashion illustration and photography at Art Center College of Design and pattern making at Los Angeles Trade Technical college. After a brief stint as an illustrator for the California Apparel News, he became a wardrobe stylist working with photographers like Herb Ritts, George Hurrell and Joel-Peter Witkin, with clients like Bette Midler, Tina Turner and David Bowie. It was through working with these master photographers where he learned the art of taking photographs.
Rick credits inspiration drawn from photographer Pierre Molinier, writers Tennessee Williams and JK Huysmans, director Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gilles de Rais.
Rick took his first photo of unknown model Tony Ward in 1986. From then on he immersed himself in homoerotic, fetish photography. His first exhibition was at the original Different Light Bookshop in Silver Lake California.
There he was approached by Durk Dehner from the newly created Tom of Finland Foundation. Durk became his first collector and published his first book entitled, Castro (DPR press 1990).
His second book 13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro(Fluxion Editions, 2004) features his noirish collection of BDSM fetish imagery.
As a photographer Rick has created portraits for producer Alan Poul, porn star Peter Berlin, Writer Gore Vidal, director Kenneth Anger, performance artist, Ron Athey, punk legend Alice Bag, actor Guillermo Diaz, model Tony Ward, “drag terrorist” Christeene, social media influencer Salvia, fashion diva Michele Lamy, and the 14th Dalai Lama. He’s created editorial photos for Christian Dior Homme, Cartier jewelry, and Rick Owens.
His photography was included in Rick Owens: Inhuman Subhuman Superhuman, Triennale di Milano (2017), and Queer Communion: Ron Athey, Participant Gallery, NYC, and ICA Los Angeles.
Rick is the co-director and writer of Hustler White(1996) with Bruce LaBruce, directed the documentary “Plushies and Furries” (2002) for MTV and the video series "Fertile Latoyah Jackson Video Magazines"(1993- 1994) starring Vaginal Davis.
In 2015, Rick was inducted into the Tom of Finland Foundation Artist Hall of Fame, and was featured in the historic first queer issue of Los Angeles Magazine, June 2019. He was chosen as one of twenty-four artists to be featured in Pride Publics, a public exhibition on Robertson Boulevard, West Hollywood, Los Angeles State Park and Intercultural Community Center, Occidental College, Highland Park, California.
Rick's photography is featured in the 2022 group exhibition AllTogether, Venice Biennial, Italy, and Community Centre, Paris, France.
Rick Castro received two artist grants from the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, and one from the City of West Hollywood, 2021.