Ming Smith: Jazz Requiem—Notations in Blue

Spanning from the 1970s to the present day, Jazz Requiem—Notations in Blue examines how American photographer Ming Smith takes influence from urbanization, post-colonialism, and the experiences of creative Black Americans expatriated in Europe, to foster and affirm her own visual language. The exhibition aims to capture the intricacies and poetry of the Black experience, both subtle and stark, within and beyond specific localities, particularly as she navigated living abroad during the 1970s, a period of intense discord in the USA. 

Highlighting a selection of works, many of which are printed for the first time, Jazz Requiem offers a fresh perspective on Smith’s work created outside of the United States when many Black visual artists, dancers, writers, musicians, and poets found Europe more receptive to their work, providing them with more opportunities and the freedom to hone their craft. This comprehensive exhibition of photography by Smith, developed in dialogue with the artist, aims to give new insights into the magnitude of her practice, which keeps evolving as she travels and responds to the creative and social environments she temporarily inhabits and captures as her cultural experiences shift.

Jazz Requiem explores the artist’s practice in relation to the complex notion of “place and identity formation” inherent to American photography’s history, which Smith further enriches as a Black woman, an artist, and a mother. This project also underscores the profound influence of music and, more specifically, jazz as a throughline in her practice.

This exhibition is part of a simultaneous presentation of work by Ming Smith, also at the Columbus Museum of Art and Wexner Center for the Arts.