Charm Hauraki is a Northland photographic composite artist. A composite image consists of two or more photographs, which are combined, adjustments made to the individual pieces and effects added to blend them together to create imaginative, illustrative and usually very realistic images.
The process of creating an artwork begins with a concept, followed by collecting images either by photographing scenes and elements herself whenever possible or otherwise sourcing stock online, photographing the subjects, then editing everything in Adobe Photoshop.
Having owned cameras since her early teens, Charm has always dabbled in photography. After a number of years working in videography (with experience in filming and editing weddings, shows and business promotions) she branched into serious photography enjoying the technical aspects as much as the artistic. She also continued building her knowledge of Adobe Photoshop (she now has nearly 15 years experience) and quickly discovered a passion for photo manipulation and creating images of the impossible. She has won a couple of online competitions with her art, competing against others in the industry from around the world.
In 2017, Charm completed an intensive fundraising project with a local kindergarten both to get practical experience and to give back to the community, photographing 40 children and compositing them into one of 5 fantasy scenes. The kindergarten sold them as calendars and over a thousand dollars was raised for the kindergarten. It was through this that she developed a passion for charity projects. After spending the following year creating animal at to sell, and individual pieces for children and cosplayers (costume artists) in the steampunk and gaming worlds, Charm had the opportunity to volunteer as a Photoshop editor for the ‘Heart Project‘, a charity organisation based in Australia who photograph sick children and their families in hospitals and create fantasy scenes for them at Christmas time. The Christmas Project has run for 4 years, 2 of those internationally, in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and England.
Charm was asked to return in 2019 to head up the remote editing team consisting of fifty editors from eight countries. During this time she has also done charity retouching work for a terminal child and her family in Australia, and edited for the USA charity So Many Angels.
Charm continues to develop on her business in between her beloved passion projects, creating custom artworks for clients, providing Photoshop retouching services and building her online store. In her spare time, she loves learning more about photography and Photoshop, drinking loads of coffee, and giving her eyes a much needed break from the computer by exploring Whangarei with family.
