# Rick Castro

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{{short description|American photographer (born 1958)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{BLP sources|date=April 2019}}
{{Autobiography|date=October 2024}}
{{Original research|date=October 2024}}
{{Notability|1=Biographies|date=October 2024}}
}}
{{Infobox artist
| image         = <!-- Only freely licensed images may be used to depict living people.  See [WP:NONFREE](/source/WP%3ANONFREE).  -->
| bgcolour      = 
| name          = Rick Castro
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| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1958|07|20}}
| birth_place   = [Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles%2C_California)
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| field         = [Photography](/source/Photography)
| training      = 
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| influenced by = 
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'''Rick Castro''' (July 20, 1958) is an American [photographer](/source/photography), motion picture director, stylist, curator and writer whose work focuses on BDSM, fetish, and desire.<ref>{{cite book |last=Castro |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Castro |title=13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro. |series=Bondage Series |year=2004 |publisher=Los Angeles: Fluxion Editions |isbn=0-9672129-4-4}}</ref>

==Early life==
Castro began work as a fashion stylist and clothing designer. Over the years, he worked for as a stylist on fashion shoots and designed clothing for [Marlene Stewart](/source/Marlene_Stewart_(costume_designer)), [Bette Midler](/source/Bette_Midler), David Bowie, [Herb Ritts](/source/Herb_Ritts),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.anothermanmag.com/style-grooming/10650/meet-the-model-who-dated-madonna-and-played-films-most-famous-gigolo | title=Meet the Model Who Dated Madonna and Played Film's Most Famous Gigolo | date=14 December 2018 }}</ref> the style agency Cloutier, [George Hurrell](/source/George_Hurrell),  ''[Interview](/source/Interview_(magazine))'' magazine, ''[GQ](/source/Gentlemen's_Quarterly)'' magazine, ''[Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine))'' magazine, ''[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)'' magazine, ''[I-D](/source/I-D)'' magazine, [Tina Turner](/source/Tina_Turner) and [John Leguizamo](/source/John_Leguizamo). Castro was the designer for Michele Lamy's first menswear collection- ''Lamy Men'', (1986–1989).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/on-the-feminization-of-menswear/|title=On the Feminization of Menswear|first=Vaginal|last=Davis|date=March 15, 2000|website=LA Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thegayissue.be/en/2015/07/the-odd-couple/|title=The Odd Couple|date=July 16, 2015}}</ref>

==Photographic career==
In 1986, photographer [Joel-Peter Witkin](/source/Joel-Peter_Witkin) took him to purchase his first camera in [Albuquerque](/source/Albuquerque). In 1988, at the age of 30, Castro became a freelance photographer, and his work appeared in the Los Angeles gay news magazines ''[Frontiers](/source/Frontiers_(magazine))'',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-28 |title=GAY L.A. – Who Is Rick Castro? |url=https://thepridela.smmirror.com/2019/04/gay-l-a-who-is-rick-castro/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=[The Pride LA](/source/The_Pride_LA) |language=en-US}}</ref>''[Drummer](/source/Drummer_(magazine))''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flaunt.com/content/rick-castro|title=Rick Castro &#124; Fetish King|website=Flaunt Magazine}}</ref> and the national gay news magazine, ''[The Advocate](/source/The_Advocate_(LGBT_magazine))''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.advocate.com/media/2016/8/13/advocate-editor-and-author-mark-thompson-remembered-grasp-gay-spirit|title=Advocate Editor and Author Mark Thompson Remembered for Grasp of Gay Spirit|date=2016-08-13|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/artist-spotlight/2011/03/17/artist-spotlight-rick-castro|title=Artist Spotlight: Rick Castro|date=2011-03-17|website=Advocate|language=en|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/photography/2019/3/29/10-photos-prove-rick-castro-king-fetish|title=10 Photos Prove Fetish King Rick Castro Fights Censorship|date=2019-03-29|website=Advocate|language=en|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref>

Throughout the years, Castro has had a number of exhibitions, including "Furotica: It Ain't Exactly Bambi" at the Track 16 gallery in Los Angeles, 2003.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archive.track16.com/exhibitions/furotica/index.html|title=TRACK 16 GALLERY, Aaron Noble and Andrew Schoultz, Wall Paintings, and FUROTICA: It Ain't Exactly Bambi|website=www.archive.track16.com|access-date=2019-10-02}}</ref>

Castro's work is collected by the [Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction](/source/Kinsey_Institute_for_Research_in_Sex%2C_Gender_and_Reproduction), [ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives](/source/ONE_National_Gay_%26_Lesbian_Archives) at the USC Libraries, [Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art](/source/Leslie-Lohman_Museum_of_Art), and the [Tom of Finland Foundation](/source/Tom_of_Finland).<ref>{{Cite web |title=ToFF Gallery |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/toff-gallery/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

His 1994 short film of hustler interviews inspired [Bruce LaBruce](/source/Bruce_LaBruce) to film ''[Hustler White](/source/Hustler_White)'' with [Tony Ward](/source/Tony_Ward_(U.S._actor)). Castro collaborated on the film as writer and co-director with LaBruce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artforum.com/film/charlie-fox-on-bruce-labruce-s-the-misandrists-68521|title=Who Runs the World?|website=www.artforum.com|date=22 May 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-31}}</ref> In 1998, he appeared in ''Sex/Life in L.A.'' [Jochen Hick](/source/Jochen_Hick)'s adult documentary about the sex lives of the men who make L.A. adult movies.<ref>{{cite news |last1=H. |first1=W. |title=Film review: Sex Life in L.A. |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/sex-life-in-l-a |access-date=20 November 2018 |work=Time Out London |language=en}}</ref><ref>Terri Ginsberg and Andrea Mensch (Editors) {{google books|GPUWPW3BRAUC|A Companion to German Cinema|page=330}}</ref> Castro has directed a number of other short films and a documentary, Plushies & Furries, (2001) for MTV.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wowpresentsplus.com/videos/plushies-and-furries | title=Plushies & Furries }}</ref>

Castro's first gallery opened at Les Duex Cafes, Hollywood, in 2002, and premiered the first Furry themed art show. In 2005 Castro founded Antebellum Gallery,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/2014/07/09/galleries-black-white-pride|title=In the Galleries: Black & White Pride|date=2014-07-09|access-date=2018-07-31|language=en}}</ref> the only fetish art gallery in America, which he ran from 2005 to 2017.

Castro shot the F/W look book 2014 for designer Rick Owens using his 93-year-old father Al Castro as the featured model.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/22199/1/rick-castro-beyond-the-fetish-frontier|title=Rick Castro: beyond the fetish frontier|last=Dazed|date=2014-10-17|website=Dazed|language=en|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref>

During October, 2015, Rick Castro received an artist lifetime Achievement award from the Tom of Finland foundation.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/toff-gallery/wppaspec/oc1/lnen/cv0/ab111 | title=ToFF Gallery : Tom of Finland Foundation }}</ref> Castro's photography was featured in Rick Owens: Subhuman, Inhuman, Superhuman at Triennale di Milano, December 2017- March 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.barneys.com/product/rick-owens-rick-owens-3a-subhuman-2c-inhuman-2c-superhuman-505847601.html|title=Rick Owens|website=Barneys New York|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930141945/https://www.barneys.com/product/rick-owens-rick-owens-3a-subhuman-2c-inhuman-2c-superhuman-505847601.html|archive-date=2019-09-30|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> Castro was interviewed by his former boyfriend, designer Rick Owens for the May 2019 issue of Autre Magazine,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://autre.love/interviewsmain/tag/RICK+CASTRO|title=RICK CASTRO — Interviewsmain Autre Magazine|website=Autre Magazine|date=6 April 2019 }}</ref> and featured in the historic first queer issue of Los Angeles Magazine, June 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/art-stars-pride/|title=These L.A. Artists Are Bringing Queer Perspectives Into Focus|last=Blum|first=Steven|date=2019-05-20|website=Los Angeles Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref> Castro is contributing photographer and writer for Another<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.anothermag.com/user/RickCastro | title=Rick Castro |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221018171733/https://www.anothermag.com/user/RickCastro |archive-date=October 18, 2022 |website=Another Man Magazine|access-date=2023-07-17 }}</ref> and Anotherman Magazines UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anothermanmag.com/userlist/RickCastro |title=Rick Castro |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014111920/https://www.anothermanmag.com/userlist/RickCastro |archive-date=October 14, 2022 |website=Another Man Magazine|access-date=2023-07-17}}</ref>

Castro created a virtual memorial entitled ''The Goddess Bunny Story'',<ref>{{cite web | url=https://rickcastroclassic.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-legend-of-goddess-bunny.html | title=The Goddess Bunny Story }}</ref> for one of his early models, [Sandie Crisp](/source/Sandie_Crisp), AKA The Goddess Bunny,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/13106/remembering-hollywood-s-disabled-trans-star-goddess-bunny-sandie-crisp | title=A Tribute to Goddess Bunny, Hollywood's Disabled Trans Art Star | date=11 February 2021 }}</ref> who died of COVID-19 on 27, January, 2021.

Three of Castro's large scale images were featured in Illuminate LA's Collective Memory Installation, Grand Park, Los Angeles, February/March 2023.<ref>Illuminate LA’s Collective Memory Installation
</ref>

Castro was one of the featured artists presenting a slide show of his photography and lecture for ''Queering The Lens'' at The Getty Center, kicking off Pride, June 2023.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.getty.edu/visit/cal/events/ev_3865.html | title=Getty and LA Pride Present: Queering the Lens }}</ref>

"Rick Castro Forever"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/dia-de-los-muertos/rick-castro | title=Hollywood Forever is alive with photographer Rick Castro's work | date=November 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://hyperallergic.com/853328/10-shows-to-see-in-los-angeles-november-2023/ | title=10 Shows to See in Los Angeles in November | date=November 2023 }}</ref> was presented at [Hollywood Forever Cemetery](/source/Hollywood_Forever_Cemetery) at the historic [columbarium](/source/columbarium), October 5 through November 30, 2024. Castro's photography brought queer sensibility to Hollywood Forever.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-01 |title=Hollywood Forever is alive with photographer Rick Castro's work |url=https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/dia-de-los-muertos/rick-castro |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=KCRW |language=en}}</ref> {{As of|February 2024}}, "Columbarium Continuum: by Rick Castro", is an ongoing unique museum hosted at Hollywood Forever.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exhitions |url=https://hollywoodforever.com/culture/exhibitions/ |access-date=February 11, 2024 |website=Hollywood Forever}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/C3EzxYKri00/ | title=Instagram }}</ref>

Castro was part of a history group exhibition, Queer-ish presented at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Queer-ish: Photography and the LGBTQ+ Imaginary EXHIBITION OPENING {{!}} Scripps College in Claremont, California |url=https://www.scrippscollege.edu/events/calendar/queer-ish-photography-and-the-lgbtq-imaginary-exhibition-opening |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Events |language=en}}</ref> Scripps College, Claremont during November/December, 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonzales-Day |first=Ken |date=2023-10-28 |title=Scripps: Queer-ish |url=https://kengonzalesday.com/scripps-college-queer-ish/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=Ken Gonzales-Day |language=en-US}}</ref>

During 2023 and 2024, Castro was featured in Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/copy_machine_manifestos_artists_who_make_zines |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=www.brooklynmuseum.org |language=en}}</ref> This exhibition featured 1400 items from zine creators from 1970 to the present day.

In 2024, Castro's photography were featured in Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival at Halle am Berghain, Berlin,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/artfair/ | title=Tom of Finland Art & Culture Fair 2024 : Tom of Finland Foundation }}</ref> and Vitam Picturarum (Life in Pictures) sponsored by WeHo Arts Festival, [West Hollywood](/source/West_Hollywood).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wehopride.com/event/vitam-picturarum-life-in-pictures-exhibition | title=Vitam Picturarum (Life in Pictures) Exhibition }}</ref>

Castro's first solo exhibition entitled Las Trece Vidas de Rick Castro, (The Thirteen Lives of Rick Castro) premiered in August 2024 at Galeria HGZ, [Querétaro](/source/Quer%C3%A9taro).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.artsy.net/show/galeria-hgz-las-trece-vidas-de-rick-castro?sort=partner_show_position&fbclid=IwY2xjawEtpCBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHV89aodd9McNZ-1FxwkHGLQZqb-auCTXlLVKN2PFw0XDgEYdfqDi8fHmzQ_aem_RkjdtzF3ovRBl9bhgXOogQ | title=Las Trece Vidas de Rick Castro }}</ref>

==Published books==

* {{cite book | last=Sweet | first=Sam | title=Rick Castro S/M Blvd: Photographs of Hustlers & Remembrances- 1986-1999| date=2024-06-24 | publisher=All Night Menu | isbn=978-0-9992682-1-6}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2023-09-07/cruising-santa-monica-boulevard-photographer-bygone-male-hustlers | title=Cruising Santa Monica Boulevard with the fetish photographer who shot L.A.'s male hustlers | website=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) | date=7 September 2023 }}</ref>
* {{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Castro |title=13 Years of Bondage: The Photography of Rick Castro. |series=Bondage Series |year=2004 |publisher=Los Angeles: Fluxion Editions |isbn=0-9672129-4-4}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Castro |first1=Rick |first2=Michelle |last2=Olley |first3=Michael |last3=Childers |first4=Robert |last4=Flynt |title=Homme. Masterpieces of Erotic Photography. |publisher=Edition Olms |date=2000 |language=German |isbn=3-283-00368-8}}
* {{Cite book |last=Castro |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Castro |title=Castro |series=Bondage Series |year=1991 |publisher=Los Angeles: Tom of Finland Foundation |isbn=1-879055-27-9}}

He has also self-published the following hand-made books:
* Zack 1991
* The Bondage Book #1. 1992.
* The Bondage Book #2. 1993
* The Bondage Book #3. 1994
* The Bondage Book #4. 1996

==Filmed works==
*1992: ''Automolove''
*1993:   Fertile Latoyah Jackson Video Magazine #1<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.laweekly.com/event-pick-vaginal-davis-on-video-in-fertile-la-toyah-jackson-volume-1/|title=Event Pick: Vaginal Davis on Video in Fertile La Toyah Jackson: Volume 1|last=Lecaro|first=Lina|date=2019-09-06|website=LA Weekly|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref>
*1994: ''45 Minutes of Bondage''
*1994:   Fertile Latoyah Jackson Video Magazine#2 The Kinky Issue
*1994:   Three Faces of Women
*1996: ''Hustler White''
*1997: ''Another 45 Minutes of Bondage''
*2001: ''Plushies and Furries''
*2013    ANTEBELLUM2013
*2014:   ANTEBELLUM2014
*2015:   ANTEBELLUM2015
*2016:   ANTEBELLUM2016
*2017:   The Dark Waters of Hotel Cecil

== External links ==
* [http://antebellumgallery.blogspot.com/ Blog of Antebellum Gallery]
* [https://www.instagram.com/castrrick/ Instagram]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Rick}}
Category:1958 births
Category:Living people
Category:American gay artists
Category:American LGBTQ photographers
Category:20th-century American photographers
Category:21st-century American photographers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rick Castro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Castro) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Castro?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.