ABOUT ME

I have worked in the newspaper, magazine, wire service and photo agency sectors as a director of photography, photo editor and photographer. I've been employed by small-town newspapers, the world’s largest news-gathering organization, major metro dailies, the nation’s second-largest newsmagazine and founded a photo service for a national newspaper chain. Along this journey, I've seen the Twin Towers collapse, bounced on Bill Gates’ trampoline, watched SCUD missiles fall on Saudi Arabia, journeyed to five Olympic Games, and experienced weightless flight with a plane full of queasy schoolteachers. In addition to the freelance work I undertake, I currently serve as an advisor and editor for the American Reportage photographers' collective as well as the "America Reimagined" Boyd's Station project that hosts work by student and emerging photojournalists. I  live in Spotsylvania, Va., and am an avid home cook and cyclist.

FREELANCE, CONTRACT WORK & CLIENTS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Contract photo editor, research and color correction work for Books and Special Issues divisions

USA TODAY

Photo editor and researcher for "Seven Days of 1961," a multi-platform look at seven events in 1961 that fueled the U.S. civil rights movement

CHALKBEAT

Coordinated nationwide in-schools photo project for online education site

TRIPADVISOR

Photo editor and metadata work for worldwide travel site

ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

Onsite photo editor for AUSA's annual meeting in Washington, DC (2019, 2021)

PAST CAREER EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION WEEK, Bethesda, MD    2008-2018

“American education’s newspaper of record,” Education Week reports on, and analyzes, pre-K-12 news and policy, with a nationally-recognized Web and print presence aimed at key decision-makers and influencers in education. 

Director of Photography

Responsible for all aspects regarding the acquisition, creation, and display of original, licensed, or otherwise “permissioned” still photography throughout Education Week’s online and print publications.

• Assigned, edited and negotiated creative work from diverse network of freelance news, portrait and documentary freelance photographers curated throughout career
• Led the visual coverage of breaking news events such as the 2018 school shootings and teacher walkouts
• Created visual brand for franchise-leading “Leaders To Learn From” annual report and live event
• Built and managed social media presence for photo department on Instagram and Facebook, as well as photographer-driven blog on edweek.org
• Successfully managed a six-figure freelance and operating budget for department 
• Profiled in National Press Photographer and Photo District News magazines 

THE FREE LANCE-STAR, Fredericksburg, VA    2002-2008

The Free Lance-Star is a daily, community-oriented newspaper that serves a historic and high-growth region located midway between Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA.

Director of Photography

• Supervised a 9-person staff of photographers, editors and image technicians responsible for coverage of local news, sports and other events. 
• Collaborated with web, news and photo teams to produce and incorporate video and other multimedia stories on fredericksburg.com, the newspaper’s community news Web portal. 
• Identified and incorporated strategies for effective story telling, and initiated training opportunities for staff in this discipline
• Authored first-ever ethics policies for newsroom regarding news photography and copyright infringement

CORBIS, New York, NY    1999 – 2002

Founded and owned by Bill Gates, Corbis had the world’s largest digitized image collection, and licensed usage rights to advertising, publishing, and media professionals worldwide. Corbis was acquired by Getty Images in 2016.

Director of Corbis Newsroom,   2001-2002

Editorial director for Corbis Web site that delivered News, Features, Entertainment and Sports photo coverage.

• Played key role in the startup and functional design of Corbis’ first Web-based platform that delivered News and associated photographs to client desktops

Acting Director, Corbis Sygma U.S.,    2001-2002

Directed team of freelance photographers, photo editors, sales and support personnel in the U.S. office of world-renowned newsphoto agency.

• Supervised all aspects of agency’s U.S. coverage of the September 11, 2001 attack; commended by senior management for thorough and calm response to the event

Executive News Director, Corbis Sygma U.S., 1999-2001

• Directed the assignment and support of photographers throughout the Americas to capture ongoing images for the news division of Corbis Sygma 
• Introduced digital camera usage to agency photographers and arranged hands-on workshops to teach fundamentals of the technology

NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE, New York, NY    1998 – 1999

Director of Photography

Managed 30-person-plus team of picture editors, contract photographers, researchers and lab personnel at nation’s second-largest news magazine. 

• Directed magazine’s photo coverage of the impeachment of President Clinton, the Kosovo conflict and the crash of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s plane, the latter a 30-page cover story produced on deadline in 24 hours
• Supervised the implementation of a digital photo management and archive system for magazine

Knight Ridder/Tribune, Washington, DC    1988 – 1998

Director of Photography

Directed the startup, editorial and market focus of daily newsphoto service operated as a joint venture by Knight Ridder and the Tribune Company newspapers. By 1998, KRT was second only to the Associated Press in U.S. photo clients, with over one thousand clients accessing images via satellite delivery or Web services.

• On-site editor and coordinator for photo coverage of Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Olympics in Albertville, Lillehammer, Atlanta and Nagano, and political campaigns and conventions in 1992 and 1996

Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL    1983 – 1988

Photo Editor

Photo editor for Sunday, Business, Metro, National and assorted special sections. Conceived and directed photo coverage for 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning stories that detailed the corruption of Chicago’s City Council.

Associated Press, Chicago, IL    1981 – 1983

Photo Editor

Foster’s Daily Democrat, Dover, NH    1977 – 1980

Photographer

"Charlie is an amazing editor to work with. He cares about the story, the subjects and the photographer. He strives to make the photographer’s job as easy as possible while make sure the photos do justice to the story. He has the knack of picking the right photographer for the job ensuring a true professional for each shoot. He also has an eye for picking the best images to run." --Josh Ritchie, freelance photographer

"Charlie is not only a talented photo editor, but has the ability to respectfully and intelligently communicate with both visual and non-visual colleagues to find the best way to illustrate a story. He has an incredible resume, which speaks for itself, covering breaking news and specific beats as an editor and DOP. As a mentor, Charlie finds the perfect balance of providing guidance but also room to grow. I cannot empathize enough how enjoyable he is to work with; Charlie is kind, thoughtful, experienced, and witty." -- Kaitlyn Dolan, photo editor at Education Week

"Charlie and I have worked at Education Week for the better part of 8 years. In that time, I've relied on his visual instincts, journalistic integrity, and artistic lens to frame nearly all of my live event work. He has a thoughtful, listen-carefully-and-then-act approach to working w/ people outside of the visual team he oversees here. His experience overseeing all visual elements and the many photographers for our signature special report Leaders To Learn From extends back to 2013 and our first live event featuring the U.S. Secretary of Education. Under his leadership, we designed 6 of these photo-intensive reports with images from all over the nation from staff as well as freelance photographers. He sent these photojournalists to far-flung locations throughout the country to capture wildly divergent stories, at the same time creating a similar look and feel that could be represented both on the page and the stage. Ultimately, visually, it was up to Charlie to make it work. And that he did. My events rely heavily on the visuals he and his folks produce, and I'm forever indebted to his expertise. I'm very happy that he's taking this new step in his professional journey, on the one hand. But his departure from Education Week will leave an enormous hole in the newsroom here—until we again find someone of his calibre. At least we now have a standard we can compare against." --Matthew Cibellis, Director of Programming, Live & Virtual Events Executive at Education Week