Two passions make up Navroze Contractor — his camera and jazz music. So it's natural that some of the best shots of the big names in jazz music across the globe are his.

The craze for jazz has taken Navroze to every nook and corner of the world. Billy Bang, Stan Getz, Eddie Moore, Max Roach, Tania Maria, Woody Shaw and Louis Banks... the list of jazz musicians captured, both on and off stage, by him is endless.

Jazz, says Navroze, is a performer's art and not a composer's. It has its own style and interpretation that belongs to a niche group, he reasons.

It is also the music of the Blacks who seek freedom from oppression, of community protest, of sorrow and pain. "The Blacks picked up the white man's instruments and began playing their kind of music. The slaves communicated with each other through song and music. Every beat and tune meant a certain thing," enlightened Navroze, whose exhibition, Listening Camera, is on at the Tasveer till August 29.

Listening Camera has pictures of 20 jazz musicians in their different moods. These pictures are in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, USA.

One of the pictures has Eddie Moore playing on a saw, another has Louis Banks at his table composing music, yet another picture catches Michael Clifton, beer in one hand and cigar in the other, in an informal mood, in something that looks like a music room.

Navroze says it wasn't easy to shoot these people. There's a lot of friendship and trust built into the relationship he shares with most musicians. He stayed with Eddie Moore for three months. Discussions drawn over long hours with his subjects are regular for him.

Jazz is serious music, Navroze says. "You can't make noise, shout and scream. Jazz requires great attention to detail, commitment and dedication," he says.

Concert halls and jazz clubs dedicating space to jazz music are sadly missing in the City, he concludes.