Crystal City Fotowalk, Spring 2019 /  by Chris Suspect

Hyattsville, MD | © 2019 Chris Suspect

I am excited to have three images in Exposed DC’s new exhibit in the Crystal City Underground in Washington, D.C. For those not in the DC area, Crystal City is an neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, south of downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential high-rise buildings, the area uses underground corridors to travel between stores, offices, and residences without going above ground. It’s kind of like Toronto in a way.

Exposed DC takes advantage of many of the long stretches of corridors to hang photographs. They have done several exhibits there over the years and they are pretty mammoth shows. The show this spring features 62 photographers with probably over 100 images printed very large, 3 X 5 feet usually. It’s pretty awesome as there is massive amounts of foot traffic through this area due to all the businesses and the metro system.

This upcoming Spring exhibit is about color, how it is seen, captured, and used through photography.

Feel free to attend the opening reception at Gallery Underground on April 5 from 5-7 p.m. as part of Crystal City's First Fridays.

The Spring 2019 exhibit will be installed on March 31.

Candy Snatchers and The Nuclears at Slash Run /  by Chris Suspect

I remember playing with the Candy Snatchers back in 1994 with the legendary UK Subs in Richmond, Va., and a full on brawl broke out between our bands (I was in The Suspects). The show almost got shut down. Today me and Larry from the Candy Snatchers are friends. He works at Slash Run in Petworth, DC, and I while I visit infrequently, we always hit it off and have great time.

So, Candy Snatchers did a reunion show, 25 plus years later and I went to Slash Run to photograph it. They played with The Nuclears from Brooklyn (by way of DC), one of my favorite current bands on the garage rock and roll circuit. Honestly, I was skeptical of the Candy Snatchers reunion, but I knew The Nuclears would bring it. Not only did The Nuclears put on an incredible set, the Candy Snatchers stole the show. Everyone was wasted and I hoped my photos would document a night I could barely recall. Unfortunately, in the chaos of that show, between the spilt beers and mosh pit, I accidentally deleted all of my photos. I have no idea how this happened, but it did.

I was crushed. I thought I just not only witnessed one of the best punk rock and roll shows DC has seen in ages, but that all the photographic proof was for naught.

I have heard stories of software that could recover deleted files so I saved my blank SD card and decided to research it. It took awhile, but I finally settled on one to give it a try. Like magic, many of the photos came back from the dead. While not all of them got recovered, I definitely got more than several I am happy with.

The perils of hardcore photography.

The Nature of the Street and Simulated Wilds /  by Chris Suspect

Jardins de l'Abbaye de la Cambre, Brussels, Belgium | © Chris Suspect & Julie Hrudova, 2019

This is a recent photograph I took in collaboration with Julie Hrudova in Brussels, Belgium. We set this up for fun but it came out quite nice. While not candid street photography, it does fit the theme of a recent contest announcement from the EarthShot Organization and they have been using it in some of their social promotions.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS -THE NATURE OF THE STREET AND SIMULATED WILDS (SUBMISSIONS DUE
MARCH 15)

Most of us live in cities and urban spaces and urbanization is increasing – we often experience
nature primarily through simulated representations of the wild.

The Planning and Conservation League of California seeks photographs illustrating this call.

Submit via Instagram and hashtag #earthshot1

Judge: David Carol

Winning entrants will be contacted for a high-resolution image for display at the Harvey Milk
Photo Center (San Francisco, CA) from March to April 2020 (photographers retain all rights).

Follow the project online (additional calls will be released on environmental topics in 2019):