Me, in front of a camera.

I am Stanisław ‘Staś’ Cichy, a fourteen-year-old model, writer and poet in Szczecin. I was born without vocal folds, so I am voiceless. I hear what people say and answer in writing, in sign or through a speech-generating tablet with a donated voice.

No. My hearing is normal. Speak at an ordinary volume and give me a moment to type or write back. Shouting only makes an already busy set louder.

I work through my own management with my guardians. Agency and agency-adjacent enquiries are welcome; representation questions are answered case by case and never signed without my guardians.

I started after a photographer invited me to try one afternoon in front of a camera and I liked the shape of the work: one clear task at a time. I have shot editorial, print, lookbook and campaign stills since then.

A photograph can say something without asking me to turn it into speech first. I also like the technical part: marks, light, precise direction and the tiny change that makes a frame work.

I perform silently for moving image: expression, gesture, movement and stillness. I do not do dialogue, whisper, scream or audible laughter, because those require phonation my body cannot produce.

Email my management with the concept, client, dates, location, hours, usage, territory, crew size, safeguarding plan and access plan. A booking exists only once it is confirmed in writing by my management and a guardian.

My management quotes a day rate plus a separate licence priced by media, territory and duration. Half days, fittings, travel days and options are quoted individually. There is no buyout by default.

No. Test shoots and portfolio collaborations are considered on merit, but they are agreed as such in advance, with the same safeguarding and usage terms as a paid job.

Licences are time-limited and specific. When a licence lapses, the client stops using the images and archives them. Renewals are quoted; a renewal is never assumed because the file still exists.

My legal guardian signs. I read the parts that concern me and can refuse any of them. A minor's refusal ends that line item, and it is not negotiated with me directly.

Two to four weeks is comfortable. Same-week bookings are sometimes possible, but my sleep disorder makes very short notice risky for everyone, so it is quoted honestly rather than optimistically.

If I am unwell, or my sleep phase makes the call time unsafe, my management notifies the production as early as possible and offers the nearest workable reschedule. Cancellation terms are in the booking confirmation.

Standard notice periods and cancellation fees apply as written in the confirmation. Weather cancellations for outdoor work are handled with a named rain date agreed in advance.

A legal guardian and a member of my management are present for the whole call, from arrival to wrap. They are not observers to be worked around; they are part of the crew list.

Child performance work in Poland, and in most territories I travel to, requires the correct permissions, hour limits and rest breaks. My management handles my side; the production is expected to hold whatever the local authority requires.

Legally my guardian consents. In practice both of us must agree: if I do not want a frame published, it is not published, even if it is technically covered by the release.

Published campaign work cannot always be recalled, which is exactly why selection is careful up front. Where a client controls the channel, my management can request removal and usually gets it.

Nothing is filmed casually. BTS, reels, stories, interviews and stills for the photographer's own feed are separate permissions, agreed in writing before the day.

No. Phones stay down. This is the single rule productions break most often, and it is the fastest way to end a shoot early.

No. There is no version of this job where I am alone with a photographer or crew member.

Medical detail shared for access planning is shared on a need-to-know basis and is not for the client's marketing. Call sheets should not list my diagnoses.

Hours, breaks and rest are agreed per booking against my age, the legal limits for the territory, and my sleep phase that week. There is no assumed generic ten-hour day.

I have non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, so my body clock drifts later over time rather than resetting to the sun. A call time that suits me in one fortnight may fall in the middle of my night in the next.

A quiet base area, a visible exit, low scent, no default background music, decent light for writing, somewhere to put my tablet and notebook, and a compact crew introduced by name.

One instruction at a time, spoken normally, or shown physically. Long stacked directions get lost, not because I did not hear them but because they arrive faster than a single frame needs.

I write, sign, gesture, or type on my speech-generating tablet. Give me the few seconds it takes. Do not answer for me, and do not ask my guardian a question you just asked me.

Yes, with sensible limits. I am very slim, so I cool down fast: warm layers between setups, and heat breaks in strong sun. I do not complain audibly, so crew should check rather than wait.

Water is genuinely fine. Rain, wet hair, poolside, sea, splashing and swimwear for a sport or holiday brief all work. Only going under the surface is planned with my guardian first, because my cough is weak.

Only when agreed in advance with an approved, familiar texture. Swallowing is much safer after four operations, but improvised snack shots are not something to discover on the day.

Yes, with a guardian. The client covers travel and accommodation for me and one guardian, and travel days are scheduled around my sleep rather than squeezed against the call.

I pause or stop, and the day adjusts. This is rare, it is not a tantrum, and treating it calmly usually means the shoot continues fifteen minutes later.

Usually EU 128, with EU 134 brought along for length. Shoes EU 31. Because I am small for fourteen, children's sizing fits my body but not always my face, so bring options rather than one look.

They are close, and my management reconfirms every measurement when a booking is discussed. Never cut or order to the numbers on a website.

I dress myself. Adults do not put hands on my body for fit checks; pin from outside the garment and talk me through anything unusual.

Underwear, sleepwear, bath styling and anything sexualised. Ordinary swimwear for a sport or holiday brief is fine. Costume, uniform, historical and stylised looks are welcome.

Yes, gently. Avoid hot tools near my ears, strong fragrance and heavy product. My freckles stay visible by default, and my hair is not cut or coloured for a job without written agreement.

Light, ordinary retouching is fine. Do not slim me, do not age me up, do not remove my freckles or my scars, and do not reshape my eyes. My amber eye colour is real and should not be corrected out.

Neutral, curious, focused, quietly amused, gently sad. Not open-mouth laughter, screaming, kiss faces or forced cheekiness. Those read as false on me and require sounds I cannot make.

Often around eight to twelve, which is useful casting information and also a safeguarding fact: briefs written for a younger child still involve a fourteen-year-old with opinions.

Bilateral vocal-fold agenesis, autism, acquired partial hypopituitarism with growth hormone and gonadotropin deficiencies, C-PTSD, a depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder. My access guide explains what each changes in the room.

No. I am small, slim and voiceless, not breakable. I can move, run, get wet and work through long setups. Good planning is useful. Treating me like glass is not.

Surprise touch, shouted direction, strobe, a crowded room, three people talking at once, and adults deciding I cannot understand them. Each of those costs the production time.

No, and this one comes up a lot. My hearing is normal. Written direction is welcome for complex sequences, the same as for anyone, but spoken direction is completely fine.

My guardian carries what I need. No crew member administers anything, and medical items are not props, not styling and not photographed.

Only if the work is genuinely about it and I have agreed. I am not available as an inspirational object, a medical illustration or a before-and-after.

Yes. Self-tapes are silent, filmed at home by a guardian, and turned around within a few days. In-person castings follow the same chaperone and access rules as a shoot.

I am a minor and have recently faced harassment. Removing the public gallery reduces casual copying, unwanted redistribution and misuse of my image.

Verified journalists, editors, casting teams, agencies and clients with a genuine professional reason. My management may ask for an organisation, publication, project, named contact and intended usage before sending anything.

Yes. A current portfolio, polaroids and any specific looks a casting needs are sent on request to a named professional contact.

No, not unless the written agreement says so. Files may not be forwarded, reposted, placed in shared asset libraries or kept beyond the agreed purpose and licence period.