Capturing Des Moines, one photo at a time

8/5/2026

Charlie Borowicz grew up in a big family, being one of eight kids. That large family was constantly on the move because of his father being in the army. Living in and experiencing so many different areas helped shape his perspective and probably helped fuel his creative expression. 

“I was always kind of artistic. I used to draw a lot when I was a kid. I really loved drawing; I still love to draw. I think that’s why I like looking at things and to experience the place I’m in,” Borowicz said.

Drawing might have been his first foray into the arts, but Borowicz ultimately found his niche in photography and filmmaking. That was far from where he thought he would end up.

“I really did not like photography when I was a kid. I was coming from this perspective of realistic drawing. I think a lot of kids get pushed in that direction. If you can draw realism, people are like, ‘Wow, you can do that.’ I think there was part of me that thought photography was the easy version of that, so I never really investigated photography until college,” Borowicz said.

His original loves were still drawing and filmmaking. In trying to hone in on those skills, he ended up being pushed into photography.

“In high school, I was super interested in making movies. I made some really bad movies. When I went to college, I was like, I really can’t get a job being a drawer, so I thought I was going to be a fantasy artist. So, I took painting, and to take painting, you have to take a photography class, and everything shifted for me,” Borowicz said.

That’s when he realized he had a passion for photography. What he was really interested in was the conceptual ideas behind making art. 

 “There’s a whole world of interacting with people and viewers, and the ideas of art are really not about craft; they’re really about the conversation that you are a part of, and that you can create with an audience that is not just your own thoughts, it’s everybody’s thoughts. I think photography, for me, was like an access to reality,” Borowicz said.

Two of his photography inspirations are Cindy Sherman and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who is known for his series, “Heads.” A series that demonstrates that the true nature of subjects can only be caught if they are unaware of being photographed. The inspiration can be seen clearly in Borowicz’s “Car Portraits” series, where he photographs individuals shot through the driver’s side window while passing or being passed at speed on the interstate.

“These are beautiful, gorgeous photographs of people completely unaware, and I love that idea,” he said.

Borowicz expressed the importance of capturing something without affecting it with either the lens or the person in the image becoming aware of being photographed.

“Artists are always trying to push their point of view, but my point of view is about what it is and how it seems as an image, and so I’m trying not to affect it too much by myself,” Borowicz said.

One of his favorite projects was “Semblant,” which was on display at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It took four months, using CGI and photographic elements, and took over the entire fourth floor of the museum. 

“I was picked as one of four artists to make a piece in that space of our own, so that was super exciting, super cool and massive,” Borowicz said.

Another one of his favorite projects was “Science, Sex and The Ladies.” An award-winning movie he made, in part, with his wife. 

“We had our 10-year anniversary a while ago, which played at The Varsity, and that was a big accomplishment.”

Borowicz said one project runs for three minutes, and the other is a feature-length documentary. 

“They both had the same amount of footage,” he said. “One I had to make in five months, and one I took seven years to make. I feel like that project taught me I could do something like that,” Borowicz said.

Photography and filmmaking have also taken him some places he wasn’t sure he would ever end up.

“I was hired to be in a dungeon, and it’s like an S&M dungeon, and people getting spanked. What they wanted me to do is give a live feed for those people, and it gave them a feed of them doing it to them while that was happening,” Borowicz said. 

His main advice for people looking to get into photography for themselves? Be a good consumer of the art. 

“Consume a lot of stuff, see a lot of things and don’t just look at the stuff that you want to look at. Look at the things that you hear about, too, because it’s easy to get locked into one particular point of view, especially generational,” Borowicz said. 

Some local photographers he enjoys consuming are Brittany Brooke Crow, Joelle Blanchard, Anthony Brass and Ethan Edmondson. 

“There are so many talented people in this town, which is really cool,” he said.

Another piece of advice from Borowicz is not to wait around for inspiration to strike you. 

“There’s a quote I really love by Chuck Close: ‘Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.’ I think the inspiration is in the work. Show up, do it or fail at it that day. It’s just like any other job, and be like, I’ll do it better next time. I think getting things started and correcting is like the hidden secret. Do something wrong first; just do it,” Borowicz said. ♦

Cyote Williams was born and raised on the south side of Des Moines and writes about entertainment, sports and personalties across the Des Moines metro for CITYVIEW. Phone: 515-953-4822 x333.