A self-described “socially awkward” photographer uses his art to connect with people but also to spark a conversation he said is bigger than just him. Bigger even than an international airport, one might say. 

“It eventually grew into being about representation, being about image and depiction,” Tommy Kha said of his work. 

Photographer’s work removed from Memphis airport

Kha, born and raised in Memphis, describes his photos a few ways: “humorous, performative, staged, not staged and not photoshopped.”

He is mostly known for his self-portraiture, an example of which was recently installed in the Memphis International Airport, then taken down and then re-installed after a public outcry. 

Beyond the airport’s concourse, Kha’s work has been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker and Buzzfeed. He was also a 2021 recipient of the Next Step Award, the Foam Talent exhibition series and the Creator Labs Photo Fund.

And his most recent portrait work can be seen on singer and songwriter Valerie June’s digital cover for her newest single, “Use Me.” 

When asked about his preference for creating self-portraits, Kha references a quote by “The Woman Warrior” writer Maxine Hong Kingston: “Why must I represent anyone besides myself?”

Kha, 33, represents multiple communities.

“I’m queer, I’m from the South and I’m Chinese-Vietnamese American,” he said. 

Kha said he initially used the genre as a way to connect him to the past and to be a part of things he never thought he’d be a part of. He also noted the long history of people of color being photographed (or lack thereof) while being subjected to certain angles and positions that point to racial divides. 

Growing up in Whitehaven, Kha attended Graceland Elementary, which closed in 2013. He vividly remembers this time of his life.

“I was really fond of that time because I was never treated differently, and it was an all-Black school,” Kha said.

Kha described his childhood as “isolated” and “sheltered,” adding that TV shows, movies and eventually the internet would become his escape. He especially loved and felt inspired by Joss Whedon’s show, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” 

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It was then that Kha began to explore his imagination. 

The photographer said he spent many summers on Getwell Road, where the paternal side of his family lived. He and his relatives would wear garbage bags to mimic superhero characters such as Batman. 

“We were poor and so we couldn’t afford costumes,” Kha said. 

He originally got the idea to pick up a camera after wanting to be like his older sister, who practiced photography at the time. While attending Overton High School, Kha would snap photos of his close friends and family, adding that his family never hung photos in their home. 

“We just never had pictures of ourselves,” he said. “We kept family pictures but we never displayed them.”

By his senior year, Kha said that he found a sense of community among his artistic friends, who were going to Memphis College of Art. He attended the school, as well, studying photography and earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 

After graduating in 2011, Kha continued his studies at the Yale School of Art, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts in photography.

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During his tenure there, he started “Return to Sender,” a kissing photo series, which he said will be a lifelong project. 

The series features Kha being kissed by friends and strangers, men and women, in different settings without Kha kissing them back. 

In a 2019 interview with Aperture magazine, Kha said he sees Return to Sender as a performance, adding that the kiss is a real gesture, but the set-up is an act. The photographer said he was interested in how, unconsciously, reality intrudes.

Kha was recently selected to have one of his pieces displayed at Memphis International Airport as it reopened its newly renovated concourse B. For the project, the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority partnered with Memphis’ UrbanArt Commission, giving the art organization the task of reviewing art submissions, commissioning work and coordinating installations. 

UrbanArt’s executive director, Lauren Kennedy, said she’s always been fond of Kha’s work. 

“I have known Tommy’s work for a long time as someone who has been part of the creative community here in Memphis,” Kennedy said. “I have always found an earnestness and humor to Tommy’s photographs that I am drawn to, and it is really exciting to see an artist from Memphis be embraced by and beyond our city. I don’t think we do enough to celebrate local when folks venture beyond Memphis, but Tommy’s work is a great example of how someone carries their experience and sense of place with them as they move through the wider world.”

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Kha did embrace his hometown experience when he made his submission to the airport. 

The photographer said he originally submitted a mural of his kissing photos but says the piece was rejected and he was asked to make a new submission. 

“People are smart enough to figure out why (it was rejected),” Kha said. 

His next submission was a self-portrait that shows Kha dressed in an Elvis Presley-style jumpsuit, entitled “Constellations VIII/ Golden Fields.” The airport authority hung Kha’s work and Kha celebrated, posting about the work on Instagram during February. 

A month later, Kha added another post on Instagram that showed the photo had been removed; he wrote that the airport said the piece had received “a lot of” negative feedback from Elvis fans. 

In response, Scott Brockman, president and CEO of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, released a statement saying the organization had received “a lot of negative feedback from Elvis fans.”

As the controversy surrounding the photograph’s removal grew, Kha said he saw many hurtful comments and conversations about his artwork on Facebook. 

“I have so much love for the community, but I don’t have love for the comments that erase community contributions to Memphis’ identity,” he said. “That work is meant to be about my own failures (in) not looking the part. It’s not mockery.”

Kha has also captured images of Elvis tribute artists in Memphis for many years. 

Richard Lou, chair of the University of Memphis Department of Art, said the reaction by Elvis fans to “Constellations VIII” actually increased the exposure and the culture and instructive value of Kha’s image. 

“The intent of the reactionary Elvis fans was to suppress, deny, banish, and ultimately to enshrine the racial integrity of the King,” Lou said. “And yet, Tommy Kha’s photograph of a witty, sad sack, cut-out photograph of Tommy as Elvis has blown up big. ...

“The reactionary Elvis fans — and we are talking about the loud few as most Elvis fans would categorically object to what has occurred — wanted their 1950s Elvis back, but that mystery train has left the station long ago and we are not going back. Tommy Kha’s insightful deconstruction of Americana is actually, the new America, and it looks a lot like Tommy.”

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Many Memphians spoke out in support of Kha’s image via social or through an online petition, asking the local airport to bring the photo back. By Wednesday, March 23, “Constellations VIII/Golden Fields” was back in its place at the airport.

Kha said that this isn’t the first time the local art community has been “mistreated.”

He referenced the Black Lives Matter mural, located in the Health Sciences Park, that was vandalized in 2020. 

“My goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Kha said. 

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The photographer said he will turn the airport controversy into a teachable moment, with the goal of helping other artists and photographers know what to watch out for. 

“I’m thinking about running workshops on professional practice,” Kha said. 

Kha recently finished co-teaching a class on self-portraiture at Yale alongside visual artist Genevieve Gaignard. He continues to juggle working between the Big Apple and the Bluff City. 

The photographer said he has plans to keep using his work to “elevate” people and especially his hometown. 

“I quite enjoy that aspect — just researching the things that make up Memphis’ identity. Not just Elvis,” Kha said.