Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Tommy Kha, of Chinese descent, felt a pervasive alienation and was often mistaken for a tourist or ‘foreigner’; as he approached adolescence the questions turned to his sexuality, adding another layer to his outsider status. Unable to broach his sexuality with his mother, grandmother and most of his family, he says: “I think subconsciously I made these pictures as a response to feeling forced to hide. So I’m trading guises.” Through a mix of performance, self-portraiture and iconic pictures of the Memphis landscape, A Real Imitation explores his uncanny experience of feeling like an outsider at home and in his own skin.