Tommy Khas’est intéressé à la photographie quand il était enfant, en utilisant un appareil photo jetable lors de vacances en famille. Il a obtenu un diplôme en équipement plus sophistiqué, a obtenu un BFA au Memphis College of Art et un MFA en photographie à la Yale School of Art et a reçu une bourse d’En Foco, une association à but non lucratif qui entretient la photographie contemporaine, artistique et documentaire par divers artistes. Le travail de Kha a fait son apparition dans Vice , Modern Painters et Hyperallergic et a été inclus dans le projet « We Think Alone » de Miranda en juillet. Son spectacle en solo, Return to Sender , se déroule jusqu’au 20 octobre à la LMAK Gallerydans le Lower East Side de Manhattan.
Pour immortaliser la Fierté de New York le dernier dimanche de juin, Kha a utilisé son expérience en tant qu’Asiatique queer comme filtre, racontant la journée du point de vue de ses amis et des nouveaux arrivants à la Marche de libération de Queer et ailleurs dans la ville. Nous avons discuté avec Kha de l’impact de ses antécédents sur son travail et de la façon dont son expérience avec Pride était un microcosme de la façon dont il perçoit le monde.
What was your approach to covering Pride for this assignment?
TK:
I got up at 6am and started shooting by 7:30am. I met up with [my friends] Drew and David in Bushwick and then went right over to Stonewall, where everyone was lining up [for the Queer Liberation March]. Then I went back to Brooklyn. It was really right up my alley to experience little bits and pieces of events—my kind of slice-of-life, mumblecore work. I’m really anxious and preoccupied as a person, and always stimulated by different things. I don’t see the big picture; I see lots of different aspects.
How would you describe your process for these photos?
TK:
I shot it with a new camera, a Pentax 645Z medium format. [The subject matter] is across the board, though primarily it focuses on queer Asian figures. Half were friends of mine, some in Brooklyn and others in Manhattan. Some were strangers I just saw through the day or that I met at a party.
You chose not to be in any of your Pride portraits.
TK:
I know—and that’s funny because I’m known for
. It was refreshing, actually! Part of it was practicality: I was running all over town and I didn’t have an assistant, so it would have been really hard to be in them and shoot them. But I think a lot of Pride is experiencing other people, and I wanted to convey that.
I love the play of light in the portraits of the gay Asian couple.
TK:
That’s my friends David and Drew—they’re just friends. I somehow luck out with people who aren’t all that familiar with photography but who manage to hold still for a long time. I shoot with long exposure, which heightens gestures, and I like to use available light. The effect is this great, kind of unintended collaboration.
Where did you find that garden wall you photographed?
TK:
I came across these flowers all covered in plastic bags—it reminded me of when people put plastic on their couches to preserve them. It kind of reminded me of a funeral. I didn’t realize at first that it was this commercial, sponsored thing—I was just seduced by the flowers.
Tell me about photos of the people you had just met during Pride.
TK:
The unplanned stuff is so delightful. There was a woman who was very political—she wanted to show me her tattoos about the abortion ban. The different stories I had to glean, they’re just very beautiful and I wanted to capture that. Some people were there to protest, others to celebrate and some were just taking in the pleasure of being with other bodies.
Had you been to New York Pride before?
TK:
This was my first! Well, technically my second. But the last time I couldn’t see anything. I’m really too short to see the parade unless I camp out and get a spot right up front. So this was my real first time getting to see it from so many different perspectives, like people lining up in the morning, and the Stonewall Inn before it was overrun with people. It was liberating.
When you were growing up in Memphis, how was Pride different down there?
TK:
I think it’s more my experience of it was different: I went to Memphis Pride back in 2006. We had conversion therapy camps down there. I was young and not completely out, maybe more cautious.
Is Memphis still home for you?
TK:
Yeah, in a way it always will be. I grew up in Memphis for 22 years. I feel most comfortable there. But I’m always learning new things and meeting new people there, too—I’m interviewing others who lost people in the AIDS crisis. I’ve been hanging out with this Mississippi Delta Asian group that I knew nothing about. I still go back and forth to Memphis periodically. I photograph my mom as much as I can when I’m there.