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Charlie’s Bio

Born in Boston, grew up in Weymouth, MA. Graduated H.S. in 1979 and moved to NY to attend Adelphi University just outside of NYC to major in acting. Graduated from Adelphi in 1983 and moved to London. Spent about a year in London working as an actor.

Moved back to NYC in 1984 and spent the next five years working as an actor, director, and writer. Also worked as a bass player doing studio work, touring, and working with local musicians. Additionally, worked as an audio engineer.

After a life changing event earlier in the year, moved to L.A. in late ’89 and continued my career as a working musician, actor, and audio engineer. In late 1994, newly married and with our first child on the way, took a job at Microsoft as a video teleconferencing engineer and spent the next 20 years at Microsoft working in several capacities: engineer, project manager, program manager, service manager, team manager, etc.

I had been working on and off as a professional photographer since 1978; my first professional gig was photographing the band Queen at the Boston Garden for a small local music magazine. I continued photographing bands as well as people throughout the 80s and in 1994 decided I wanted to eventually make photography my primary career within five years.

In 1999, the same year I opened my business to work concurrently with my job at Microsoft, my son was diagnosed with autism which put my plans to open my business on hold as we needed the benefits. That proved to be the right choice as, thanks to all the therapies Microsoft afforded us, my son became a normal “pain-in-the-ass” teenager is now, at age twenty-four, considered one of the top up and coming jazz saxophonists on the West Coast.

In 2008, I created a project called “Stories of Autism” which, over the next ten years, documented the lives of families with members on the autism spectrum by creating and exhibiting portraits and stories of each family’s experience. The project became a non-profit organization involving over 250 photographers across the country and documenting the lives of over 500 subjects. The images were exhibited across the country as well as in an online gallery.

In 2014, I was part of a mass layoff at Microsoft and decided to go full time into my photography business working mostly as a commercial photographer. 

In the summer of 2019, I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease which causes intermittent hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo. The episodes of vertigo became too unpredictable to work as a commercial photographer with thousands of dollars on the line. Knowing that the unpredictability of the vertigo episodes would be a risk to my

business, during the pandemic I began studying the methods of Peter Hurley, considered the best headshot photographer in the world. 

Then, in January of 2022, I transitioned my commercial photography business into a business focused almost entirely on headshots. Unexpectedly, that year became my most successful ever for my business and I’m looking to continue its growth in 2023.

We talk about the following among a few other subjects

Living in London

Working as an actor and a musician

His life changing experience

Living in NYC vs LA

His son

Photography 

Charlie’s Social Media

Charlie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlescotugno/

His website: https://cotugnophoto.com/

Charlie’s Twitter: @CotugnoPhoto

Charlie’s Advice

If you're looking to me for that wisdom, you may be looking in the wrong place. I know my limits and limitations.