Presented as a monumental banner on the north façade of 460 King Street West, the striking black-and-white portrait of John and Alice Coltrane by American photographer Chuck Stewart (1927–2017) transports the viewer into one quietly charged moment, from a past lifetime. In the following poetic reflection, curator Mark Sealy delves beyond the surface to amplify the rich power of this single frame.

When Beauty Speaks. 

Chuck Stewart's photographic portrait of John and Alice Coltrane represents a serene moment of encounter that is timelessly engaging, honorific, and laced with a beauty that speaks directly to both the artistry of the subjects framed and the photographer's vision. Here, John and Alice are caught in what can only be described as a moment of intimate, transcendental calm, paused in sonic spiritual reflection beyond language, as if all the music of their collaborative lives is being processed into the internal rhythms of life and love in this moment. 

Stewart's photograph elevates them both into spiritual beings, confident they are on the path of righteous and profound self-discovery. Stewart's lens brilliantly brings into visibility the quiet intensity of what it means to be alive in music, not just as a way of making sound, but as a form of deep intellectual enquiry and spiritual awakening. Stewart brings a tenderness to this photograph that fully complements the aura of the moment, the time-space, and the place that John and Alice have arrived at independently, but collectively in spirit. Stewart's photograph takes us beyond the celebratory and into introspection and connection. Finding inspiration and communion with other worlds is a joyous and difficult place. 

The photograph was taken in 1966 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, just two years after Coltrane recorded his highly influential and groundbreaking album A Love Supreme. We know that just one year later after this photograph was shot, John was to be taken from this world by cancer. Looking at this image in our present, it seems an almost impossible scenario. The genius of Stewart's photograph is that it helps us share with John and Alice the bliss of living in contemplative musical joy.

Presented by CONTACT

Curated by Mark Sealy

• Dr. Mark Sealy OBE is Executive Director of Autograph and Professor, Photography, Rights and Representation at University Arts London – London College of Communication, also affiliated to the Photography Archive and Research Centre. Sealy is interested in the relationship between art, photography and social change, identity politics, race, and human rights. He has written for many of the world’s leading photographic journals, produced numerous artist publications, curated exhibitions, and commissioned photographers and filmmakers worldwide. Lawrence and Wishart have published Sealy’s more recent critical writings on photography. These titles include Photography: Race, Rights and Representation (2022) and Decolonising the Camera: Photography in Racial Time (2019).