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@suitcase_joe

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Photo | What Suitcase Joe Found at Skid Row university

I hadn’t seen him in years. Then I caught his pop-up photo show in an alleyway gallery in Oregon Hill a few months back. The images were real life. Honest. Some of them tough to even look at. Street people, prostitutes, gang bangers, punks mid-fight, scenes in bars, bikers, protests, pain, and joy all jammed into the same wall. But it wasn’t just shock value. There was trust in those photos. Access. We had to talk about the work.

Today, L.A. based street photographer Suitcase Joe has become one of the sharpest eyes documenting the parts of Los Angeles most people ignore. His first book, Sidewalk Champions, captured Skid Row not with pity but with dignity and grace. His second, Grey Flowers, widened the lens.

And people are noticing. He’s been covered by The Guardian, Petapixel, L.A. Weekly, Juxtapoz Magazine, Daily Mail, Print Magazine, My Modern Met, Flaunt, Invisible People, and dozens more across photography, art, and culture. He’s getting out there and staying in his own lane while he does it.

But before all of this, we worked together for a while in Richmond. He was just a guy I knew from the grind. Then he got out. He made his way to LA almost twenty years back and disappeared into a whole other life. Somewhere in the middle of it, photography became an outlet. He started walking the streets, shooting what he saw.

The following is pulled from our conversation.

Read more, link in bio.

Featured: @suitcase_joe

✏️: @majormajor____
📸: Sweet Stephanie | Stephanie works what is known as the “Hoe Track” inside Skid Row. Over the years, many sex workers here have been attacked, assaulted, and even murdered. Photo by Suitcase Joe

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#richmond #rva #rvamag taken in Richmond, VA by @suitcase_joe

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10 months ago

This Friday will be the closing show for Grey Flowers book release and photo exhibition. 330 photos on the wall taken from all over Los Angeles neighborhoods throughout 2022. My book Grey Flowers was released by @burnbarrelpress and you can still order copies from them. I only have 25 more books to sell at the closing show. I sold out of what I had at the opening. A lot of people asked me to hold them a book. Come and get it. Ive also invited a few people I photographed in the book. Pretty Pimpin Dino will be there reciting some of his poetry and @puppetmaster213 will be there with his puppet. Also, Natti Sax, @kornh0l3 will be outside singing and playin some tunes. It’ll be a fun little closer. Show is from 6 to 10. Thank you all who have already come out to support and purchased a book. See you soon @fullbloomgallery edited and filmed by @joegasparik by @suitcase_joe

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3 years ago

Suitcase Joe describes the shift that changed everything for him — realizing Skid Row is a community, that we separate people on a monetary ladder, and how much of life comes down to the "birth lottery."

#SkidRow #Compassion #BirthLottery #Humanity #AndNowLove by @suitcase_joe

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a month ago

Featured in INCENDIARIES, our group exhibition curated by @burnbarrelpress

@suitcase_joe
King Dino and his Cadillac
Archival Pigment Print on Luster paper
11 × 17 in.

Suitcase Joe is a Los Angeles based street photographer and documentarian whose work is rooted in the people and communities most often overlooked by the traditional lens.

For more than a decade, he immersed himself in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, building relationships and documenting the daily lives of its residents with an emphasis on dignity, intimacy and trust rather than observation from a distance. That body of work ultimately became his first book, Sidewalk Champions, published by Burn Barrel Press.

His second book, Grey Flowers, expanded that vision across Los Angeles, documenting the punks, outsiders, working-class communities and other characters who make up the city’s sprawling cultural landscape. His photographs have been exhibited nationally, including at the Torrance Museum of Art, and published by outlets including The Guardian, Juxtapoz and Artillery

INCENDIARIES
Curated by Burn Barrel Press
On view through September
Mortal Machine Gallery
940 Royal Street • New Orleans

Available works from the exhibition can be viewed and acquired through our website

#suitcasejoe #mortalmachinegallery #burnbarrelpress #neworleans #frenchquarter taken in New Orleans, Louisiana by @suitcase_joe

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a month ago

INCENDIARIES, a new group exhibition curated by Burn Barrel Press, opening tonight at Mortal Machine Gallery 7–10 PM.
Bringing together fifteen artists from across contemporary art, photography, illustration, and underground publishing. Incendiaries embraces the raw, the handmade, the confrontational, the humorous, and the deeply personal. Presenting artists connected by a blazing independent spirit rather than a single medium or aesthetic.

This exhibition reflects the DIY energy and artist driven culture at the heart of Burn Barrel Press and Mortal Machine Gallery alike. The press will also use the opening night to premiere our new zine, Burn Barrel Volume 6, adding an edition based publishing component to the exhibition.

Several participating artists will be in attendance for the opening reception, making September 4th an opportunity to experience the exhibition alongside the artists and community that helped bring it together. With DJ Karo on the turntables! taken in Mortal Machine Gallery by @suitcase_joe

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a month ago

Two months in Paris, working with @beyondthestreets on what is, without question, one of the most monumental street art shows ever put together.

I spent most of those two months filming and interviewing artists alongside my friend and film partner @joegasparik. Long days. Long nights. Same as everyone at Beyond The Streets. A lot of work went into documenting something on this scale.

The wild part was getting to meet and work alongside artists I’ve admired for years—some for decades. People whose work helped shape the way I see photography, art, and the world.

The show itself is on another level. It’s the kind of thing that photographs and video can only explain so much. You really need to stand in the middle of it to understand the weight of what they’ve pulled together.

And somewhere between the interviews, the filming, the running around Paris and the endless hours, I managed to steal a little time for myself and make some photographs.

These are a few of the shots I caught in between the work.

If you get a chance to see the show, don’t sleep on it. Go see it in person. by @suitcase_joe

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2 months ago

Suitcase Joe -@suitcase_joe- is a Los Angeles based street and documentary photographer. He spent almost a decade documenting Skid Row before expanding his work all over L.A. Come check out his work displayed at:

PUNX: The Art of Dead City & Friends
Open Wednesday to Saturday
11:00AM to 6:00PM - Free Admission
📍BEYOND THE STREETS Gallery
434 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@dead_city_punx_ @deadcity_mike @grumpy_dcp @mcnugget.42 @ciudad_muerta_ @beyondthestreetsart by @suitcase_joe

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5 months ago

We are very much on the eve of destruction. Human rights are being dismantled daily. People are being kidnapped, caged, and killed because of the color of their skin. There will come a time when we all can look back at this era and have to remember what side of history we stood on. If you’re OK with what’s happening in Los Angeles and all around America today then you are misinformed. Now more than ever it’s important to continue to speak up and stand up for ourselves and others. ICE out of America. by @suitcase_joe

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9 months ago

A lot of people send me DM’s asking about Libby: It had been several years since I’d seen her when I was driving to photograph in a neighborhood that was not Skid Row but also has large homeless encampments. I was looking at the encampment with the same curiosity I always have and it caused me to miss my turn. One block further I saw a girl with green hair and a familiar face. I was stuck with nervous excitement and relief. Could it be? I stopped in the road and put on my flashers—ran across the street to where I’d seen her. It was Libby. Dressed in fashionable attire and makeup as always— and had put on some weight. So many of my own questions answered in just seeing she was alive. I have been in contact with different members of her family over the years and they hadn’t seen her either. We spoke for a brief moment and I made plans to connect her with a member of her family who she wanted to see. Libby told me where I could find her again. I returned many times over the following weeks and haven’t seen her since. I don’t think she’s ready to be found but I’m happy to report she’s alive and knows her family cares about her and would like to connect with her again when she’s ready. #skidrow #streetphotography #suitcasejoe #thelasix by @suitcase_joe

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9 months ago

A few years back Cain AKA @puppetmaster213 showed me around MacArthur Park where he grew up. He got a job at the old Bob Baker Marionette Theater that has since closed its doors. Cain started out as an employee fixing puppets and doing other maintenance jobs at the theater. Sometimes he would pick up the puppets when no one was watching and mimic what he’d seen the performers do. One day Bob Baker caught him practicing with the puppets. With a language barrier between them Bob encouraged Cain to show him what he could do: He seemed to be a natural with the puppets. From there Bob took Cain under his wing and started teaching him—and Cain learned fast. Cain told me it was partly because of the language barrier. He couldn’t ask Bob questions so he’d have to memorize what ever techniques Bob showed him on the first go around. There was no way to ask questions. This proved to be a blessing as he quickly and precisely honed his craft. I saw Cain perform at the theater years before I got to know him. He stood out to me in many ways—most notably his level of skill with the puppets was unmatched compared to the performers around him. He’s since left the theater and now has created his own puppets. In this photo he and @el_triste_213 are on the balcony of the building where he and his family used to live. Overlooking MacArthur Park—where it all started. #puppetmaster #bobbakermarionettetheater #eltriste #macarthurpark #suitcasejoe by @suitcase_joe

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9 months ago

I’m ready to roll out of 2025 into 2026. Los Angeles was hit hard this year with fires, floods, industry strikes, and Ice raids. We did win the World Series for a 2nd year in a row, though, and through all the downturns the people of the city continued to show up and show out for one another. Hoping everyone has a lot more wins in the coming year. #streetphotography #suitcasejoe #bikelife #2wheels1love #losangeles by @suitcase_joe

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10 months ago