Amusing Self-Portraits of an Impassive Artist Being Kissed by Strangers

By Alison Nastasi

Oct 6 2013

Memphis photographer Tommy Kha kisses strangers. In his series Return to Sender, the artist toys with stereotypes of Asian men as being submissive or asexual and blurs the roles of photographer, sitter, and storyteller by capturing the act of kissing without returning the gesture. Kha receives kisses from friends and lovers as well, but his passive stance and blank expression makes the relationships indeterminable — and the results are somewhat amusing, despite Return to Sender‘s serious conceptual undertone. The only rule for participants? “They can kiss me however they want but they have to kiss me on the lips,” he told My Modern Met. See more of Kha’s stoic self-portraits, below.