Charles R. Pearson was born in Pecos, Texas August 31, 1920. He attended school in Canada and apprenticed with Alfred Knight, a photographer in Vancouver, British Columbia. From 1940-1942 he worked as a freelance photographer for three daily newspapers in Vancouver, B.C. During the war he worked in Los Angeles as a phooographic printer at Austin Studios while waiting to enter the military service. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and served in Europe as a combat photographer. Returning from the war, he worked as a freelance photographer in New York City through May 1946. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1946 and set up a business doing commercial architectural photography. He became a major photographer for regional architects. His work was used in numerous newspapers, magazines and for magazine covers. He also exhibited his work in exhibitions. The high quality of his work artistically and technically was well-known. In commenting on his work, Pearson said, "The most important aspect to me is that my work is positive. I am making portraits of a structure. I try to find the most flattering and dramatic angles, choose the lighting that will enchance the subjects' best features, thus portraying the work to its best advantage." He served as president of the Professional Photographer's Association of Washington. He also taught photography and held workshops at a number of places including the North Seattle Community College, Edmonds Community College, and the Northwest Institute of Photography.

His wife, Daisy Bell Pearson (December 6, 1921--December 17, 2003 was born in British Columbia. Her mother was Agnes Coates Strain and her sibliings were Margaret Bell McKay, Jane Syme Frankel, Robert Strain, Flora Catherine McLean and Agnes Syme Roberts. They had three children, David A. Pearson, Robert W. Pearson, and Katherine J. (Pearson) Wright.