In 2007, photographer and publicist Kica de Castro opened an agency aimed at professional models with disabilities, to increase the self-esteem of these professionals and also to place them in the commercial (advertising) and fashion work market.
In 2015, after a period of work in a rehabilitation center, Kica started the audiovisual project Viver Eficiente, with the aim of ending the invisibility of people with disabilities and making them the protagonists of their stories.
To celebrate seven years of existence, he adapted the project into a television show, in early 2022, which now airs on the broadcast channel D+ TV on Saturdays at 10:30.
Also in 2022, Kica was one of the finalists in the Popular Prize: Belonging and Innovation category of the Woman Press Trophy, along with Fátima Bernardes and, the winner, Ana Carolina Negrão.
Today, the agency Kica de Castro Fotografia is responsible for bringing back what is most beautiful within each person. Self-esteem, self-knowledge and recognition, through photos that recreate not only the external beauty of a model, but also the appearance and smile of people who feel useful and included in the labor market.
“Beauty and disability are not opposite words. Today we are reaping the fruits of what we planted at the beginning of the project. Every day we are evaluating the efficiency and diversity of the body”, says Kica.
In 2023, Kica aims to redo the Caminho da Fé, as he did in 2019, with physiotherapist Paula Ferrari, who uses a wheelchair to travel long distances, together with a team of cyclists, from Águas da Prata in the sanctuary in Aparecida. do Norte, on a route scheduled to be completed in 9 days.
Also planned for 2023, the photographer will return with her personal photographic exhibitions in several Brazilian states, always evaluating the efficiency of each individual, since disability is only a characteristic and does not determine a person’s capacity.
About Kica Castro
Kica de Castro, from São Paulo, 45, publicist with a postgraduate degree in photography. Fashion and beauty columnist in a specialist magazine for people with disabilities, digital influencer, audio-visual content producer, host of the “Efficient Living” podcast, PCD art career consultant, educator of photography as a tool for inclusion social, integration of the person with disabilities and body plurality.
