The Watts Towers in 1968

Dennis Stock USA. CA. 1968. "The California Trip."USA. Los Angeles. 1985. Watts Towers State Historic Park with the tower sculpture by Simon RODIA, "Nuestro Pueblo".

This photograph is evocative of the era and place in which it was taken –1968 in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angles. It documents the Watts Towers (a U.S. National Historic Landmark), which were the thirty-year (1920s-1950s) sculptural project of Simon Rodia, an Italian immigrant and construction laborer living in Watts. Rodia called his structures Nuestro Pueblo (Our Town).

The photo also documents a child from the neighborhood walking alone on the empty street in front of the towers. His clothing – slim pants and white t-shirt – also evokes the midcentury mood of the Los Angeles neighborhood only three years after the Watts Rebellion (August, 1965).

Note: Sources are hyperlinked. Also, I'm not sure if anyone has identified the child in the photo. I wasn't able to find out who he was from my few quick searches.