Check Out Charla Harvey’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charla Harvey.

Charla, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Yes! I’m a photographer and also a therapist! Both of those jobs actually kind of overlap sometimes in some interesting ways :). For photography, I’ve had a camera in my hand basically since I could hold one! My dad was (and still is) very into cameras and shared that with me. I used to experiment with taking a lot of photos around the house, of family and friends, and definitely some artsy (whether intentional or not) photos!

I realized I absolutely love taking photos of people, especially abroad. I also found it fascinating how peoples’ faces would change once they knew their photo was about to be taken (though I would always ask first). In Luganda (one of Uganda’s languages), “Nsobola okukuba ekifananyi?” means “can I take your photo?”, and in Kinyarwanda (Rwanda’s native language) you’d ask “Nshobora gufata ifoto?” In both Uganda and Rwanda, I noticed many people would be smiling but once the camera was in their face a lot of people would pose quite stoic. Some people told me they used to believe the camera captures souls.

I went to school for Social Work and Anthropology at the time, so photography was just a hobby for me. My main focus was on helping people however I could (and figuring out what that meant). Then I transferred to Naropa University, and my major changed to Peace/Conflict Studies and Transpersonal Psychology. When I graduated, I worked with many different populations. I worked with adults with intellectual disabilities, youth experiencing homelessness, victims of sexual assault, teenage girls that have been victims of trafficking, took care of people with medical issues such as multiple sclerosis, advocated for various human rights causes, etc. I also worked a lot of service industry jobs.
During that time, I also realized I loved music!…and that concerts were expensive. I started figuring out how I could afford to go to as many concerts as I wanted to without declaring bankruptcy. I always loved watching concert photographers in action and seeing the end result. I had started to make friends in the music industry, and I asked local bands if I could try to shoot their shows sometimes. “Free photos? Why not!?” So I gained seriously needed experience, and that also helped expand my network. (It was also a good way for me to be able to actually see since I’m pretty short!) I started shooting a lot of local bands, and then I shot for MusicMarauders and got to shoot bigger bands and festivals. This gave me chances to meet new people, meet (and take pictures of) my favorite bands(!!!), and discover new favorite bands. I also had people ask me if I shot weddings, engagement photos, senior portraits, headshots, events, etc. If I hadn’t done that before, I would just be upfront with them. I’d say, “I haven’t done that yet, but if you trust me to try I would love to.” I’m so honored how many people trusted me, and I have had so many opportunities since then.
I also absolutely love when people come back and tell me how much they love this photo of them! People have recommended me to other people (which is my dream come true), so now I have photographed pretty much everything! I have even been commissioned to shoot dating profile pictures. It really is an honor having someone trust me so much to do such a vulnerable shoot.

I have been able to create my own business that incorporates what I love the most: human connection, music, travel, and the gift of being able to give people photos of themselves that help increase their self-love. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone post one of my photos of them as their profile picture, music/show promo, their Save the Dates, etc. It shows me they love how they look in their photo–and I helped create that! Even though people are obviously beautiful on their own and they don’t need me to help show that :).

During COVID, I decided to get my Masters so I could be a therapist (which I have always wanted to be but kept putting off going back to school). Now, I have graduated, and I have my own practice and also work for a group practice. I am so grateful and excited to be doing this work! This is definitely my biggest passion! I am a self-love therapist, and I work with a lot of different populations (including people in the music industry)!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not! Being a photographer is pretty difficult in general, but especially as a woman in the industry!
I have also noticed that lately it seems harder to get confirmation for show requests, and sometimes we don’t hear back until an hour before the show starts!
Also, I am super short! So, sometimes the stage is very high up and my camera won’t always get the faces I want. Sometimes a monitor is in my way, and a taller person could just see above it. I like to joke about renaming my photography name “View From the Bottom Photography.”
Of course, sometimes I have technical difficulties. Sometimes, my camera isn’t working or the battery dies even though I just charged it (though I always bring extra). When I was in Easter Island, I bought this huge SD card for the trip because I knew I was going to take a lot of pictures. I think it was supposed to hold at least 4,000 pictures. After the first 1,000 pictures, the SD card failed and erased all of the pictures! I took it to four different stores and no one could fix it. Also my laptop is slow, so it takes a long time to upload/edit photos!

It is also not easy to be a therapist. We hold space for some of peoples’ most painful experiences. Also, most therapists become therapists because of their own healing journeys. I definitely had a lot of struggles (and growth) along my way to get to this point in my life.
Also, when I was in grad school, my house/everything in it burned down in the Marshall Fire when I was in the shower. The aftermath of that was a journey I had to go through pretty much entirely alone (though I am seriously grateful for peoples’ generous donations of various kinds which basically saved my life!!!, but emotionally I was alone). One week after the fire was when I started my therapy internship working with actual clients. As hard as that was, that also showed me I could truly do this. This was also probably the first time in my life I actually gave myself permission to say no, to practice self-care, and to feel proud of myself. I was my own best friend for maybe the first time. I’m not going to say all that loss was a gift, but there was some good that came from it. It also helped me really go deep with people experiencing real pain. I also finally had serious awareness of the past, non-supportive relationships I had in my life and why I was attracting/allowing these people in my life. I decided to focus on my equal and fulfilling relationships, not the ones where I felt the need to prove my worth to someone who could/would never see it. And now I’m stronger than ever :). I can genuinely hold space for peoples’ full range of emotions/experiences in a real way.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Most people know me as a photographer. Some people know me just as a concert photographer. Like I said above, I shoot everything including concerts, band promo/album covers, events, weddings, proposals, headshots, self-love shoots, portraits, products, families, senior photos, maternity, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, dating profiles, boudoir, marketing, pets, landscape, real estate, pretty much anything and everything! I genuinely love humans, and I try to show that through my photography! I am so grateful for the unique way I am able to photograph peoples’ most special moments and help them realize how beautiful they really are!

I am also a therapist, and I specialize in self-love and relationships (relationship to anything–not just couples like it may sound like). I feel that I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this career :). I absolutely love this work, and I feel it continues to make me a better person as I help people remember their strength, power, and self-love. I work with attachment, self-esteem, codependency, identity, ADHD, anxiety, body image, mindfulness, trauma, and more. I tend to work a lot with people who don’t feel they belong, have loud inner critics, or tend to get in unhealthy relationships. I also work with musicians/people in the industry. I also work with men who don’t feel connected to their emotions and people in general who don’t have a strong connection to their bodies. Listening to people share their truth and remember (or discover) their self-worth is so incredibly rewarding.
Oh, and I have rainbow hair! A lot of people know that about me :).

What’s next?
I’m definitely hoping for more success in the future, but for now I’m so grateful for the success I’ve already had!

I hope to officially shoot Jam Cruise and other festivals this year or next.
I want to continue to build my private practice on the therapy side and work with more musicians. I also have another practice idea but I will keep that a surprise for now :).
I am also working on developing a support group for musicians with another therapist and a different therapy group as well (that one will also be a surprise 🙂 ).

I am also just continuing to stay on my own journey of self-love and authenticity and supporting the people I love on theirs!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.truehuecounseling.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/charlaharveyphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/charlaharveyphotography