Everyday jazz life: A photographic project on contemporary jazz musicians’ lives in Birmingham

Abstract

This article examines fragments of a local jazz scene through photographs. It is theoutcome of a collaborative pilot research project entitled 'Everyday Jazz Life: A PhotographicProject on Contemporary Jazz Musicians' Lives in Birmingham' that took placeat Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research, and brought together an academicand a photographer. As Ian Jeffrey suggests, photographs can be consideredas understandable fragments, which invite their viewers' minds to reflect about them.However, as fragments, photographs of contemporary Birmingham's jazz musicians aspeople, not just performers, in the context of their everyday lives can also be understoodas records of intention illuminating how musicians view themselves, the local jazz scene,and how they negotiate their lives while expanding their music. This visual approachopens up the possibility of new, or under-studied, topics for jazz studies research, forexample, those concerning musicians' off-stage complementary activities, social dynamicswithin their communities, and the living challenges and constraints.