“It’s probably easier to ask me whom I haven’t photographed than to tell you who I have. But if there’s a historic moment in American music, social or cultural history that you’re curious about, chances are I was there or have photographs of somebody who was.”
— Chuck Stewart
The Sun ATL, Atlanta’s contemporary art gallery and event venue located in the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood, is honored to present Chuck Stewart: Framing the Sound, an exhibition of photographs by the late Chuck Stewart (1927–2017), widely regarded as the most prolific and consequential music photographer of the twentieth century. The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, August 8, and runs through September 26, 2026.
Stewart’s photographs appeared on more than 2,000 album covers over a career spanning seven decades, and his portraits of the era’s greatest musicians remain among the most recognized images in American cultural history. Twenty-five of his prints are held in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. His work has been exhibited at Jazz at Lincoln Center and recognized by institutions across the United States and Europe.
Framing the Sound opens at a singular moment: 2026 marks the centenary of both John Coltrane and Miles Davis — both born in 1926 — and Stewart’s portraits of each are among the highlights of the exhibition. The show also features arresting photographs of Nina Simone, Astrud Gilberto, and Tina Turner, among many others, offering a sweeping visual record of an era that permanently shaped American music and culture.
That breadth is reflected in the exhibition itself. Framing the Sound presents a curated selection of Stewart’s portrait work alongside a wall of album covers drawn from his extraordinary catalog — spanning Impulse!, Verve, Mercury, Reprise, Chess, and other labels that defined the golden era of recorded jazz.
Framing the Sound will serve as the opening event in a year of international gallery and museum exhibitions celebrating the centenary of Chuck Stewart’s birth in 2027. The Sun ATL is honored to help kick off that celebration in Atlanta.
Framing the Sound is conceived and curated by Kim Stewart, Director of the Chuck Stewart Archive, in collaboration with The Sun ATL Director Shawn Vinson, and is presented with the full support of the Chuck Stewart Estate.
The Sun ATL gratefully acknowledges WCLK 91.9 FM (Jazz WCLK, Clark Atlanta University) as media sponsor and Fireball Entertainment Group LLC as presenting sponsor.