Nativity scene at Old City Plaza

• Posted By: Scott Harrison
• Posted On: 12:13 a.m. | December 24, 2012

Dec. 23, 1973: Elaborate figures create a dramatic Nativity display at Old City Plaza adjacent to Olvera Street in Los Angeles.

Religion editor Dan L. Thrapp reported in the Dec. 24, 1973, Los Angeles Times:

Although the energy crisis restricted the number and elaborateness of outdoor Nativity displays this year, many still were erected.

One of the most familiar, and dramatic, was that at the bandstand at the Old City Plaza, adjacent to Olvera Street. In the bright sunlight Sunday it attracted hundreds of viewers.

The photo above, by retired staff photographer Art Rogers, accompanied Thrapp’s article.

On the back of the print this image was scanned from, Rogers added, “This photo was made with a telephoto lens, seeming to gather the figures in to the Christ child.” Rogers added the photography term “foreshortening,” a word describing how a telephoto lens appears to enlarge distant objects compared with foreground objects.

Dec. 6, 2012: The current Nativity display at Old City Plaza adjacent to Olvera Street in Los Angeles. Photo was taken with a wide-angle lens. Credit: Scott Harrison / Los Angeles Times