My Top 50 Photographs of 2021 by Chris Suspect

2021 kicked off with the Insurrection on January 6th and then closed it out with the Omicron variant, bookending another weird and strange year with national traumatic events. Fortunately I was able to slip off to Mexico for a couple weeks for my annual Day of the Dead workshop in October, giving me some much needed respite from our divided nation. Unlike 2020 I didn’t release any new books as I needed a break and just wanted to shoot, so this year was a little less eventful. Above are 50 of my best images from the year and below is a list of my photographic accomplishments.

In January, the Leica Fotografie International Magazine Blog published my images from the Insurrection, “Chris Suspect: Chaos at the Capitol,” by Danilo Rößger, and I was the juror for Glen Echo Photoworks’ “Hindsight is 2020” competition and exhibition.

Leica Camera also used some of my work for their first global media campaign in 10 years in their advertising video, “The World Deserves Witnesses”.

In April, I participated in in a lecture and image review session with photography educator Mike Browne from the United Kingdom.

In May, I was honored to be part of an online exhibition entitled “Psychotic Reactions” by Landscape Stories out of Italy.

In June, I was included in Exposed DC’s 15th Anniversary Exhibit at Elle, in Washington, DC.

In July, it was a real honor to work with Tim Huynh on the first episode of Beyond the Frame, a slick, well-produced vignette of my photography career to date.

Also in July, I was delighted to be the MC for The DC Street Photography Collective event with two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lucian Perkins, at Slash Run in Washington, DC

In September, WhiteWall featured my work with a large solo exhibition at Photopia in Hamburg, Germany, and I was interviewed for Street Photography Magazine’s podcast episode “Chris Suspect Shoots the Insurrection.”

In October, I hosted the return to my annual Day of the Dead Workshop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The student slideshow is great!

In November, I created a series of 23 unique T-Shirts and prints for an exhibit that was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute. But, I was able to sell out most of these online and at my birthday party at Slash Run. There are still a few left here.

In December, I was filmed in Miami Beach during Art Basel Week by a French television crew for an episode of Sur Les Murs, a french documentary program on street art with artist/sculptor Richard Orlinski. This will be released in January 2022.

And, finally I was happy to have several photos included in Focus on the Story’s latest book, “Transition - The End of an Unprecedented Four Years” published this December.

Here’s to a new year! And hopefully a much better one.


Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 in Pictures by Chris Suspect

Had a great time at Art Basel Miami this year. It was such a pleasure to escape DC and hit the warm climate. It was a little sad not having the Miami Street Photography Festival this year, but we will be back in 2022.

The highlight for me was being the subject for an episode of Sur Les Murs, a french documentary program on street art with artist/sculptor Richard Orlinski. The film crew followed me around South Beach shooting for about 6 hours. It was awesome and they were jazzed by how dynamic the footage turned out. This will air in January on TV5MONDE and on French speaking channels around the world.

The rest of the time I shot a lot, went to some cool art fairs and parties, worked out on Muscle Beach, and ran. I'm a little exhausted from all the physical activity and walking 10 plus miles a day! I slept over 10 hours when I returned.

The photos above were all from this trip. I got to shoot a lot and it was great.

New One-of-a-Kind-T Shirts for Sale by Chris Suspect

November 13th was my birthday. I had a solo show planned for a DC gallery called Bad Candy. Long story short, Bad Candy got shut down by the DC government and I was left with 23 one-of-a-kind T-shirts I had printed for the month-long exhibit. Fortunately, I was able to sell 17 of my 23 shirts at my birthday party with the awesome band Teen Cobra at my absolutely favorite bar in DC called Slash Run. I only have 6 left. You can buy just the shirt or the shirt with the print here in my web store.

The above photos are the result of a collaboration between me and Nova which we shot this past weekend. She was kind enough to let me shoot a “look book” for my remaining shirts. Check them out here.

Mexican Silhouettes Updated for 2021 by Chris Suspect

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico © Chris Suspect 2021

During this year’s Day of the Dead workshop in San Miguel de Allende I personally focused on updating my Mexican Silhouettes portfolio that I have been working on for several years. I have just added 10 new images and removed about as many. Photography projects always seem to be a work in progress. I guess you will know when it’s done when you have either exhausted all visual possibilities or you just grow out of it. For now I definitely plan to do more of the same when I return next year, trying to make more complicated and/or graphic images.