1
of
1
Tommy Kha: Half, Full, Quarter
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Hardback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK
Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock
Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Tommy Kha: Half, Full, Quarter. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Ideal for readers interested in contemporary photography, Asian-American narratives, cultural identity, and arts that blend personal history with broader social themes.
Latest News
Story to Screen Report - 26/08/26
Another week, another huge round of Story to Screen news! From exciting new adaptations and...
Why you need to start a family boardgame night
Board games aren't just for adults, they're perfect to do as a family. Here's why...
From Page to Panel: The Rise of Graphic Novel Adaptations
Discover why graphic novel adaptations are booming, from ‘Dune’ and ‘Sapiens’ to ‘Call Me by...
Why You Should Read Folk Horror!
If you're looking for a new read and haven't yet tried Folk Horror as a...
Movie Review on The End of Oak Street
Lizzy and Roopa are sharing their reviews of The End of Oak Street, a movie...
See more
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Tommy Kha: Half, Full, Quarter weaves together self-portraits and classically bucolic landscapes punctuated by the traces of East Asian stories embedded in the topography of the American South.
In this first major monograph, featuring almost a decade of work, Tommy Kha explores the highly personal psycho-geography of his hometown. As the artist states, "Memphis has become, for me, not only the place where I was raised but an active borderland between fantasy and memory, nostalgia and history, nonfiction and mythology." Memphis is where his mother, fleeing Vietnam in the early 1980s, settled, along with his extended family.
Throughout the work, his mother emerges as a recurring character, sometimes the subject of quiet photographic study, and in others, a collaborative muse. "I'm a cut of my mom," Kha asserts, "Every photograph I make of her is a Half Self-Portrait." In snapshots drawn from a family album that serves as the one record of her journey to the United States, she is the source of nostalgia and barely captured memory.
In assembling a visual account of the struggle to find his own voice and narrate the fragmented history of his family, Kha challenges the cultural amnesia around Asian lives and experiences in recent American histories. Acclaimed author Hua Hsu contributes an engaging essay, "People Need to Smile More," and MacArthur Fellow An-My Le conducts an incisive conversation with Kha that delves into his family history and artistic strategies.
Tommy Kha: Half, Full, Quarter is the result of the Next Step Award, a partnership between Aperture and Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York, in collaboration with the 7|G Foundation. An exhibition of the work will open at Baxter St in New York in February 2023.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Critics commend Kha’s evocative blend of personal and cultural histories through photography. Tony Wilkes of AnOther magazine notes the work's surreal edge capturing immigrant hardship, while Stefanie Li in Galerie magazine highlights the poignant fusion of family ancestry and Southern life. Memphis magazine praises the thoughtful engagement with the Southern landscape, and British Journal of Photography recognises the deliberate method behind Kha’s commentary on immigration via layered visual fragments.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781597115438
Publisher: Aperture
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 09 February 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: Aperture
Illustration: 115 four-color images
Contributors:
- Photographs by Tommy Kha
- Text by Hua Hsu
- Interviewer An-My L
- Designed by Studio Lin
- Interviewer An-My Le
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 22.0mm
Width: 215.0mm
Height: 266.0mm
Weight: 1079g
Pages: 172
Collections
About the Author
Tommy Kha (born in Memphis, 1988) lives and works between Brooklyn and Memphis. He received a BFA from Memphis College of Art in 2011 and an MFA from Yale School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut, in 2013. In 2021, Kha received the Creator Labs Photo Fund and the Aperture–Baxter St Next Step Award. In 2022, he was named a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow. Kha has also held residencies at Light Work, New York; Celebrate the Studio at the International Studio & Curatorial Program, Brooklyn; Silver Art Projects, Manhattan; and Crosstown Arts, Memphis. He joined Higher Pictures Generation, New York, in 2022. Hua Hsu, a staff writer at the New Yorker, is an associate professor of English at Vassar College, and serves on the executive board of the Asian American Writer’s Workshop. He is the author of Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure across the Pacific (2016) and Stay True: A Memoir (2022). An-My Lê is the Charles Franklin Kellogg and Grace E. Ramsey Kellogg Professor in the Arts at Bard College, New York. She has exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Lê has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and MacArthur Foundation. Her books include the Aperture titles Small Wars (2005), Events Ashore (2014), and On Contested Terrain (2020), which was published on the occasion of a major exhibition organized by Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. An-My Lê is the Charles Franklin Kellogg and Grace E. Ramsey Kellogg Professor in the Arts at Bard College, New York. She has exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Lê has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and MacArthur Foundation. Her books include the Aperture titles Small Wars (2005), Events Ashore (2014), and On Contested Terrain (2020), which was published on the occasion of a major exhibition organized by Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh.
More from Arts & Culture
View all-
Dylan's PickBold Types
A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...Hardback$5999Elsewhere:$7000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseHome Again
Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to Win
Did I Ever Tell You This?
In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...Paperback$3799Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseDisney Moana: The Official Cookbook
Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$5299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
They Bloom Because of You
Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Devotions
New York Times Bestseller, chosen as Oprah's 'Books That Help Me Through' for Oprah's Book Club Chosen by Poetry Book Society as their special commendation 'No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important,...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinThe Odyssey
The The Odyssey by Homer is a timeless epic that chronicles the adventures of the legendary Greek hero, Odysseus, as he endeavours to return home to Ithaca following the conclusion of the Trojan War. This monumental journey spans ten arduous years, during which Odysseus encounters a myriad of natural and supernatural challenges. From shipwrecks and ferocious battles to formidable monsters...Hardback$3600Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to Win14% offLeaves of Grass
A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...Hardback$1900Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
I Still Believe in Miracles
I Still Believe in Miracles is a collection of poetry exploring themes of masculinity, love, grief, and connection. This is the trade debut from Instagram phenomenon Lucas Jones, perfect for fans of yung pueblo, Hussain Manawer, and Whitney Hanson. A collection of powerful contemporary poetry, I Still Believe in Miracles delves deeply into themes of masculinity, love, grief, and connection....Hardback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Beautiful Chaos
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseRoadscapes
For four decades, photographer Derek Smith has explored the way New Zealanders travel, work, and express themselves through the vehicles they drive. Roadscapes is his compelling photographic journey through the heartland of New Zealand, capturing our unique car cultures and the social landscapes they inhabit across Aotearoa.Hardback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
