Don Hogan Charles was born Daniel James Charles in New York City in September 1938 to James Charles and Elizabeth Ann Hogan. He attended George Washington High School in New York, NY, before attending and then dropping out of the Engineering program of City College of New York. Leaving the City College to pursue photography as a career, Don first became a freelance photographer with photographs appearing in major international publications such as Der Spiegel and Paris Match. His commercial clients included Bill Blass, Oscar de la Renta and Pan American World Airways. Don then became the first African American staff photographer of The New York Times. Don would work for the Times from 1964 until 2007 -- a career that lasted over forty years.

During his career, Don would photograph fellow iconic African Americans such as Coretta Scott King, Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. His photography captured and often centered on moments in the Civil Right Movement, often as he experienced it in his home of Harlem, New York, but also in places all across the United States. An important element of Don Hogan Charles’s work was his drive and ability to mentor fellow photographers -- a detail recalled fondly by many who worked and collaborated with him during his tenure at The Times.

Charles' work is currently in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, NY, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.