Meet Kaio Cesar Oliveira

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaio Cesar Oliveira a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaio Cesar, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My name is Kaio Cesar, I’m a 28-year-old Brazilian-raised photographer currently based in Los Angeles.

It’s funny to say now, but photography was never something I planned to pursue as a career growing up. I liked images in general, but never thought of it as my path. I grew up in Vitória, Espírito Santo, and moved to the U.S. in 2016, working different jobs before photography became part of my daily life. But even then, creating images was the one thing I always returned to.

I always enjoyed having my own photos taken, editing them and all, but mostly because I wanted to create visuals rather than model for the camera. The moment I realized I didn’t want to be in front of the lens, I wanted to be the one taking and editing the images myself, everything started to make sense for me.

Before that, I was very confused and lost in my life. Around age 22–23, I was delivering food, painting houses, serving tables… and while many people can find joy in those things, I felt lost because I knew I wanted to create art. I just didn’t know what kind of art. But looking back at how much I loved pop culture as a kid, I knew I wanted to be one of the people creating culture.

It wasn’t until the Covid quarantine that everything shifted. One random night, my boyfriend at the time — now my husband — told me I would be a great photographer. From that moment on, I started wondering if he might be right. And looking at where I am today, I feel confident saying that he was and that conversation changed everything for me.

My first experience with a style of photography that resembles what I do now actually came from The Sims. When I was younger, I used to stage little photo shoots with my Sims characters. It’s funny to think about, but I truly believe it helped me understand framing, posing, and composition long before I ever touched a real camera.

My background played a major role in shaping my purpose. As a Brazilian and a queer artist living abroad, I realized my strength is in building visuals that highlight identity, character, and individuality. Over time I understood that my work is less about documenting and more about creating, crafting scenes, worlds, and characters that amplify the person in front of the camera.

So my purpose became clear through practice:
to use photography and creative direction to give people a visual language that feels powerful, intentional, and uniquely theirs.
It’s about transforming ideas into imagery that communicates who someone is not just how they look. That’s why strong styling and glam matter so much to me; Sometimes you need to change how someone looks on the outside to reveal something true about who they are on the inside.

That focus guides every project I take on today. And since I started very recently because I’ve only been photographing for five years now, I’m still discovering, learning the technical side of photography, and shaping what my aesthetic looks and feels like. I admire photographers with a very defined style, but I don’t want to be stuck in one lane. I like evolving, refining my techniques, and creating different branches within my own visual language so my work resonates with different people, not just one audience.

My purpose as a photographer comes from wanting to leave my small mark on pop culture, because that’s what shaped my love for images in the first place. And beyond that, I genuinely love making people feel comfortable and happy both during the shoot and when they see the final edited images. On a personal level, I find a lot of joy in bringing ideas to life. I was always a very creative kid, but didn’t have many opportunities to express it growing up.

Doing this now almost feels like getting a second childhood.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I now work as a full-time fashion and music-related photographer, which still feels a little crazy to me because that was always my ultimate goal — along with becoming a music video director, though that’s something I’m still preparing myself for. Today I shoot for magazines and music artists, and it’s surreal to say that out loud.

I’m finally doing what I always wanted to do. And now that I’ve reached this point, my next goal is to keep expanding: to shoot bigger names, grow my audience, and have my work seen by more people.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Since I never actually studied photography, my path into this field was very unconventional. I originally went to school to become an ESL teacher, which has nothing to do with what I do now. But I’ve always been obsessed with pop culture, and I was constantly consuming imagery: music videos, album covers, magazine covers. Those visuals were incredibly important to me growing up, and they became my first real introduction to the kind of work I do today. Being exposed to all of that definitely helped shape my taste, so having those references was essential.

Because I mainly shoot in the studio, learning lighting was especially important, and it took me years to reach a point where I feel even somewhat confident about it and I still have A LOT to learn. I remember watching tutorials about types of photography I didn’t personally connect to, but I would still try to extract whatever technical knowledge I could and adapt it to my own style. You don’t have to learn from people who shoot exactly like you; you can take information from anywhere and apply it to your own visual language.

Another thing that helped me grow is understanding that photography is really about people feeling confident. You’re dealing with individuals who are being vulnerable in front of your lens, so being patient, empathetic, and understanding is just as important as knowing how to light a set and editing the photos afterwards.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Before moving to Los Angeles, my approach to projects was very individualistic. Over time I learned that you need multiple brains working in tune to make things bigger and better, so I became much more open to collaboration. Now I’m always looking for like-minded creatives: stylists, makeup artists, models, hair stylists, or anyone whose skills can elevate what I’m doing on set. I look for people whose work shares something in common with mine, and whose vision I feel can add to my style while I can also add to theirs. I’m always open to collaborating.

That’s how I choose people for my personal projects. When it comes to projects that clients bring to me, I of course try to maintain my photographic style, but I’m also open to the ideas they bring. I aim for a balance between the story they want to tell and my own visual approach, because ultimately, my style is the reason they came to me in the first place.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kaiocesar.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaiocsr