Charles Stewart

Who is Charles Stewart?

Charles Stewart is an American photographer best known for his cover photos on as many as 2,000 albums featuring his portraits of such jazz, performers as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis and artists in the R&B and salsa genres too.

Stewart was born in Texas in 1927 and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He received an Kodak Brownie camera as a present when he was 13 years old and used it that same day to take photos of Marian Anderson who had come to visit his school. After they were developed, he was able to sell his photos for two dollars, making him a professional photographer from his first day he took pictures. He attended Ohio University as a photography major, one of the only two universities in the United States that offered the program at the collegiate level and the only one that would then accept African American students.

While in college, his friendship with photographer Herman Leonard helped him make connections with record companies in New York City.