Frank Stewarts Nexus: An American Photographer's Journey, 1960s to the Present [Hardcover]

The first complete monograph and retrospective on the sixty-year career of Frank Stewart, photographer of an astonishing range of intimate and empathetic images of Black life, music, and culture.

Frank Stewart’s Nexus presents an overview of the career of this noted photographer, who since the 1960s has captured spontaneous and sensitive portrayals of African American culture in many forms, including art, food, dance, and music—especially jazz. Best known for his work as senior photographer for Jazz at Lincoln Center, Stewart produced energetic street scenes and profound landscapes on his worldwide travels with the orchestra. The intimate and subtle relations between and among people are at the heart of Stewart’s art, whether shot at a Manhattan jazz concert, in the studio of artist Romare Bearden, or during a sacred rite in an African village. This sweeping survey of 103 images, with an artist interview and texts by multiple critical voices, illuminates the evolution of a remarkable career.


Exhibition Itinerary:

The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.: June 10–September 2, 2023

Artis–Naples, The Baker Museum, Naples, FL: October 14, 2023–January 7, 2024

Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA: February 9 – May 12, 2024 At 14, Frank Stewart borrowed a camera from his mother and shot the 1963 March on Washington. He has been documenting American life, with a focus on the Black experience, ever since. This retrospective collects more than 100 of his photographs taken over six decades, including the 30 years he worked as the lead photographer for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.  —Lauren Messman, with the New York TimesRuth Fine is former curator of special projects in modern art at the National Gallery of lch