He received a BFA in Photography at Otis Art Institute/Parsons School of Design in 1989. After college, he moved to New York in 1989 and assisted many fashion and portrait photographers and then slowly transitioned into visual display for stores like Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman. From 2006 to 2008, he studied at Metáfora International Workshop in Barcelona, Spain, focusing on sculpture, installation and public intervention. Charlie then returned to New York and launched a career as a set designer and prop stylist for advertising and magazines.