About


The son of a diplomat, Chris Suspect was born in the Philippines in 1968. He is a street and documentary photographer hailing from the Washington, DC area. He specializes in capturing absurd and profound moments in the quotidian. His street photography work has been recognized internationally and has been exhibited in Miami, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Romania, Georgia and the United Kingdom. His documentary work on the underground music scene in Washington, D.C., was published as a book, Suspect Device, by Empty Stretch in 2014 and was a featured exhibit at the Kolga Tblisi Photo Festival 2015 in Tblisi, Georgia. This same project was also featured in the Leica Galerie at Photokina 2014 in Koln, Germany. The work is currently held in the Leica Galerie Archives.

In the last year, Suspect won the StreetFoto San Francisco competition for street series, FotoWeek DC’s competition for Photographer’s Choice series, and Exposed DC’s annual photography competition. He was also a finalist in the Miami Street Photography Festival Miami Photo Series. In previous years he was shortlisted for the International Street Photography Awards (UK) and named the winner of the Washington City Paper’s 2014 Photography Contest. Previously Suspect served as a judge for the Miami Street Photography festival during Miami Art Basel (2013), he won Photo District News’ “The Scene” contest for music photography (2013) and received an honorable mention in the Chicago Photographic Society’s first annual street photography contest (2013).

Suspect’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Photo District News, LFI Magazine and on the Leica Camera Blog. He also has published photographs in the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, CNN, The Atlantic, Forbes and many other media outlets in the US, Germany, Canada and Brazil.

Books

  • UnPresidented: The Inauguration of Donald J. Trump and the Peoples’ Response, 152 pages, Hard Cover, Published by Cosmic Smudge Media, 2017
  • World Street Photography 3 (2015/2016), 200 pages, 24 x 19.5 cm, Hard Cover, published by Gudrun-Verlag, 2016
  • Suspect Device (2nd Edition), 68 pages, 8.5 x 11 in, soft cover, hand numbered in edition of 250, forward by Alec MacKaye, published by Empty Stretch, 2015
  • Suspect Device (1st Edition), 68 pages, 8.5 x 11 in, soft cover, hand numbered in edition of 100, forward by Alec MacKaye, published by Empty Stretch, 2014

Exhibits

  • Stop Motion, 3rd Edition, Dodge City, Washington, DC (2018)
  • Exposed DC FotoWalk Exhibition, Crystal City, Arlington, VA (2018)
  • The Other Art Fair Bristol, “Secret Auction – Art on a Postcard,” Bristol, UK (2018)
  • Focus on the Story International Photo Festival/Lost Origins Gallery, “Gratuity Included,” Washington, DC (2018)
  • Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, “The Ties that Bind: The church, identity, activism, & community in the African American experience,” Washington, DC (2018)
  • VSLO Photo Festival, “Suspect Device,” Vama Veche, Romania (2017)
  • Leica Gallery DC, “From Dusk till Dawn,” Washington, DC (2017)
  • Millepiani Space, “LoosenArt.com’s The Street Experience,” Rome, Italy (2017)
  • Gallery O on H Street, “UnPresidented,” Washington, DC (2017)
  • Community Collective Photography Showcase, Capital Fringe, Washington, DC (2017)
  • Exposed DC FotoWalk Exhibition, Crystal City, Arlington, Va. (2017)
  • Photoworks at Glen Echo Park, “United/Divided,” Glen Echo, MD (2017)
  • Exposed DC, Ajax Gallery, Washington, DC (2017)
  • HistoryMiami Museum, “Miami Wild Life,” Miami, FL (2016)
  • National Geographic Museum, “FotoWeek DC,” Washington, DC (2016)
  • DC Public Library, “DC in the House,” Washington, DC (2016)
  • Galerie Ravenstein, “Brussels Street Photography Festival,” Brussels, Belgium (2016)
  • Penn Social, “Pancakes and Booze,” Washington, DC (2016)
  • Gudberg Nerger Gallery, “World Street Photography 3,” Hamburg, Germany (2016)
  • Hole in the Sky, “DZ Tapes 5 Year Anniversary,” Washington, DC (2016)
  • Joe Goode Annex, “StreetFoto International Street Photography Awards: Finalists Exhibition,” San Francisco, Ca, (2016)
  • Kolga Tblisi Photo Festival, “Kolga Award 2016 Exhibition,” Tblisi, Georgia (2016)
  • Exposed DC FotoWalk Exhibition, Crystal City, Arlington, Va. (2016)
  • Damaged City Art Show, Open Studios, Washington, DC (2016)
  • Exposed DC, Winner, Carnegie Library, Washington, DC (2016)
  • FotoWeekDC, “Photographers Choice,” Washington, DC (2015)
  • The W Hotel Lomowall, Washington, DC (2015)
  • Leica Gallery DC, “Unforgettable,” Washington, DC (2015)
  • Doomed Gallery, “Zine World”, London, UK (2015)
  • La Columbe/Blagden Alley, “Photography After Dark”, Washington, D.C. (2015)
  • Kolga Tblisi Photo Festival – Karvasla Tblisi History Museum, “How did punk do it?” Tblisi, Georgia (2015)
  • Hole in the Sky, “ARTSHOW_11: Erotica – An Exploration of Trash-Pop Sexuality” Washington, DC (2015)
  • Leica Gallery DC, “Suspect Device,” Washington, DC (2015)
  • Laser Cat, “Laser Cat at the Yards,” Washington, DC (2015)
  • Hole in the Sky, “(pho)tography,” Washington, DC (2015)
  • Miami Street Photography Festival, Miami, FL (2014)
  • Leica Galerie at Photokina presents “Suspect Device,” Cologne, Germany (2014)
  • Leica Gallery DC presents “Faith” by STRATA Collective, Washington, D.C. (2014)
  • Govinda Gallery presents 4×6 East Coast Rock and Roll Photography 2014, Hill & Dale Records, Washington, D.C. (2014)
  • Washington Project for the Arts 33rd Annual Gala and Auction, Select 2014, Artisphere, Arlington, Va. (2014)
  • Govinda Gallery presents 4×6 East Coast Rock and Roll Photography, Gypsy Sally’s, Washington, D.C. (2013)
  • Miami Street Photography Festival (2013)
  • FotoWeekDC – FotoNOMA: The District Experience (2013)
  • Leica Gallery, Washington, D.C. – “DC as I See It” Juried Exhibition – Winner (2013)
  • DCist Exposed 2013
  • Chicago Photographic Society – First Annual Street Photography Contest – Honorable Mention (2013)
  • Miami Street Photography Festival (2012)
  • Submerge DC (2012)
  • FotoWeek DC (2012)
  • Corcoran Gallery of Art – Body in White Sheet (2012)
  • Busboys and Poets – Occupy (2012)
  • artDC Gallery – Emerging Hyattsville (2011)
  • artDC Gallery – 12×12 (2011)
  • Franklins Restaurant & General Store (2011)

Media/News

  • StreetPX (podcast), “Punk Photographer – Interview with Chris Suspect,” by RE Casper and James Watkins (2018)
  • Hyattsville Life & Times, “Art Burn: In a Quick Show, Chris Suspect Proves Himself Adept,” by Paul Hrusa (2018)
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Trump’s Ex Lawyer Ty Cobb Caught Enjoying Punk Rock,” (2018)
  • Washington Post, “Former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb rocks out at the punk show of a band called Copstabber,” (2018)
  • The Candid Frame #402 – MSPF: Street Photography – A Personal Passion by Ibarionex Perello (2018)
  • Cada día un fotógrafo / Fotógrafos en la red, “Chris Suspect,” by Luis Martínez Aniesa (2017)
  • WorldItineraries.co, “VSLO Photo and Film Festival Lights Up Romania’s Black Sea Coast,” by Sean Hillen (2017)
  • Focus Prima TV, “An underwater photography exhibition opened for the first time at Vama Veche. The works of famous photographers have been exposed underwater, and whoever wants to admire them has to wear the diving suit,” (2017)
  • Agerpres, “Interview with Chris Suspect: Carrying biases with you when you go out in the field can blind you to larger truths and opportunities for better photographs,” by Oana Ghiță (2017)
  • Romania-Insider.com, “American Photographer Chris Suspect Comes to Romanian Visual Arts Festival as Special Guest,” by Irina Marica (2017)
  • Washington Post, “Going Out Guide for the District, May 4-10, 2017”, by Carrie Donovan (2017)
  • BroadwayWorld.com, “Low Cut Connie Announces Dirty Pictures,” (2017)
  • Directed Actions Live Film Series, by Robin Bell (2017)
  • iN-PUBLiC.com, “Interview with Chris Suspect”, by Blake Andrews (2017)
  • Finalist, Miami Street Photography Festival – Miami Photo Series, (2016)
  • Winner, FotoWeek DC – Photographers Choice – Series, (2016)
  • Judge, Miami Street Photography Festival, (2016)
  • Judge, Brussels Street Photography Festival, (2016)
  • Winner, StreetFoto International Street Photography Awards – Series, 2016
  • StreetShootr.com, “StreetFoto Winners Announced,” by Karl Edwards, 2016
  • Photonews.HK, “超強摩擦力！Chris Suspect 耐人尋味的街頭攝影,” by alexNG, 2016
  • dcfocused.com, “Catching up with Chris Suspect at the Damaged City Art Show,” 2016
  • Winner, The W Hotel Lomowall, Washington, D.C., 2016
  • Panelist at HistoryMiami Museum, Miami Street Photography Festival, 2015
  • Judge, World Street Photography Awards 2016 – Street Portraits 3, world-street.photography, 2015
  • World Street Photography, “Interview with Chris Suspect,” by Daniel Osorio, 2015
  • AlexCoghe.com, “50 Street Photographers You Should Follow in 2015,” by Alex Coghe, 2015
  • ParisPhoto.com, “Chris Suspect: Suspect Device,” 2015
  • LFI, “Chris Suspect: How Did Punk Do It?” by Katrin Iwanczuk, 2015
  • The Leica Camera Blog, Chris Suspect: “Suspect Device at Leica Gallery DC,” by Leica Internet Team, 2015
  • BrightestYoungThings.com, “Recap: Suspect Device Opening at Leica Store,” by Clarissa Villondo, 2015
  • 205DPI, No. 18, “The Hairdressers,” 2015
  • DCMusicDownload.com, “Suspect Device: D.C. Music’s Legacy in Photos,” by Katherine Small and Katie Bowles, 2015
  • ExposedDC.com, “Sneak Preview of Suspect Device Exhibition Video,“ by James Calder, 2015
  • DCFocused.com, “5 Minutes with Chris Suspect,” by Joe Newman, 2015
  • Odcloneno.com, “INTERVIEW: fotograf Chris Suspect – ‘Nezajímá mě fotografování vize někoho jiného,’” by Michal Fanta, 2015
  • Finalist, Miami Street Photography Festival, 2014
  • Washington City Paper, “Local Music Photographer Gets Soiled in a New Art Film,” by Christina Cauterucci, 10.30.2014
  • Washington City Paper, “How Punk Rocker Chris Suspect Became a Photographer with Global Cred,” by Carrie Donovan, 10.7.2014
  • The Leica Camera Blog, “Chris Suspect: Suspect Device at Photokina 2014,” 9.15.2014
  • Washington City Paper, “Rough Cuts,” by Marcus J. Moore, Photographs by Chris Suspect, 9.12.2014
  • Winner, InstantDC Open Call, 9.10.2014
  • Huffington Post, “Sometimes, Street Photography Is About Having Faith,” Joe Newman, 8.07.14
  • Finalist, Urban Picnic Street Photography Competition (2014)
  • Shortlist, International Street Photography Awards (2014)
  • Winner, Washington City Paper’s 2014 Inaugural Photography Contest (2014)
  • Judge, Miami Street Photography Festival, Miami, FL (2013)
  • Photo District News – The Scene: Event and Nightlife Photo Contest – First Place Winner in Clubs/Nightlife (Amateur) (2013)
  • Photo District News – Emerging Photographers – What’s Your Favorite Vacation Photo?” Winner Chris Suspect: More than Funny (2013)
  • The Leica Camera Blog – Chris Suspect: Continuing the Visual Conversation (2013)
  • The Leica Camera Blog – STRATA: Shared Passion for the Still Image (2013)
  • Alex Coghe Blog – Chris Suspect Interview (2012)
  • The Hyattsville Wire – Interview with Chris Suspect (2012)
  • The Hyattsville Wire – Ten Tips on Street Photography (2012)

Publications

  • The Atlantic Monthly
  • Buzzfeed.com
  • Chicagoist.com
  • CNN.com
  • DCist.com
  • Forbes
  • Fuze Magazine (Germany)
  • LondonFuse (Canada)
  • NPR – All Things Considered (Website)
  • Oregon Humanities magazine
  • Roanoke Times
  • Science
  • ScientificAmerican.com
  • The Street Photographer’s Notebook, Vol. 1
  • Washington City Paper
  • Washington Post Express

Events

  • TEDxMidAtlantic (2016)
  • TEDxMidAtlantic (2012)
  • TEDxMidAtlantic (2011)
  • Nonprofit 2.0 (2011)
  • Surreal (2010)
  • Digital East (2010)

WORK | PRINTS

If you are looking for prints or would like to inquire about photography rates, please email me at csuspect1 [at] gmail [dot] com or call +1-202-230-6400.