Charlotte Handy was born in Wellington in 1967. She attended the Elam School of Fine Arts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her contempories included Giovanni Intra, Anna Miles, Michael Parekowhai, and Gavin Hipkins. Handy was awarded a Senior Scholarship in painting and was invited in her third year at Elam to hold her first solo exhibition at the Betty Wallis Gallery. A move to London in 1994 resulted in Charlotte becoming involved in the British photography scene. She was a finalist in two international competitions, and her work was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Haywood Gallery. Her work is held in the James Wallace, National Bank Collection, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade collections and private collections in New Zealand, East Asia, Europe and North America.