Skip to Content
L.A. TACO home
L.A. TACO logo
Log In
We need your help to keep L.A. TACO going
Featured

The Friday Photo Essay: Capturing Historic-Filipinotown Culture On a Film Camera

2:25 PM PST on January 13, 2023

    The iconic neon sign at the original Tommy’s Burgers location on Rampart Boulevard.

    L.A. TACO is embarking on its biggest mission yet: to create a taco and food guide for every single neighborhood in Los Angeles! Along the way, we will also be releasing brief histories of each neighborhood to understand L.A. a little more and celebrate how each and every neighborhood makes our fine city the best in the world.

    The best way to know your neighborhood is to walk your neighborhood. Photographing Filipinotown on 35mm film for the past half-decade, I sometimes feel like I've walked every inch of the neighborhood countless times. But while working on this photo essay, I found plenty of places that I was unfamiliar with, from offices, homes, and studio spaces to homeless encampments hidden from the road, new plants, flowers, and murals. The experience reminded me that neighborhoods are constantly changing, and you’ll never see everything.

    The iconic neon sign at the original Tommy's Burgers location on Rampart Boulevard.
    The iconic neon sign at the original Tommy's Burgers location on Rampart Boulevard.
    Morning light hits one of my favorite store front signs.
    A Victorian style house that's been converted into apartments with views of the DTLA skyline.
    A Victorian-style house that's been converted into apartments with DTLA skyline views.
    An elderly man walks by an 20th century craftsman house as it's being demolished.
    An elderly man walks by a 20th century craftsman house as it's being demolished.
    A tree grows out of a wall in a parking lot.
    A tree grows out of a wall in a parking lot.
    A sign that's no longer around.
    A sign that's no longer around.
    The farmacia in this photo is now Brooklyn Bagels.
    The farmacia in this photo is now Brooklyn Bagels.
    The pharmacy in this photo is now Brooklyn Bagels.
    Craftsman homes on a residential street in Historic Filipinotown.
    A driver kills a man riding a motorized bicycle on a dangerous stretch of Beverly Blvd that has seen numerous fatalities and reckless driving incidents in recent years.
    A Victorian-style home with Halloween decorations outside.
    Businesses on the eastern edge of Historic Filipinotown.
    A body shop on Beverly Boulevard
    Body shop on Beverly Boulevard.
    A body shop on Beverly Boulevard
    A carniceria on Beverly Boulevard that also has a taco stand.
    A memorial for Karla Duarte, a young woman who was fatally shot in an abandoned home in Filipinotown.
    Pinay Coin Laundry.
    Historic Filipinotown at dusk.
    Lexis-Olivier Ray@ShotOn35mm

    Lexis-Olivier Ray is a housing, justice and culture reporter for L.A. TACO.

    Read More:

    Stay in touch

    Sign up for our free newsletter

    More from L.A. TACO

    Site News

    An Update On Our Membership Drive: Some Bad News, and Good News

    Some bad news, and some good news on our pledge to survive and stay sustainable.

    April 26, 2024
    Taco Members Only

    Where To Eat This Weekend: Bulgogi Pupusas, Hemp Seed Guacamole, ‘Sticky Rice Sticks,’ and Korean Street Food In Venice

    Plus an Roman chef veteran in a Hollywood apartment, chocolate Cuba Libres, Uzbeki plov with lazer rice, and cochinita melts in a Silver Lake yard. Here are the best things to eat around Los Angeles (and San Juan Capistrano!) this weekend.

    April 26, 2024
    Site News

    How Your Business Can Benefit From Sponsoring L.A. TACO

    When your company sponsors L.A. TACO, you receive a variety of quick and cost-effective benefits for far less than what we price our traditional advertisements and social media mentions at.

    April 25, 2024
    Taco Members Only

    Juárez-Style Burritos Have Arrived in Southern California, And They are Already Selling Out In Less than An Hour

    The month-old strip mall taquería in Anaheim make all their flour tortillas from scratch using both lard and butter, resulting in an extremely tender vehicle for their juicy guisados like carne en su jugo, carne deshebrada, chile colorado, chile relleno, and chicharrón. Every tortilla is cooked to order, too.

    April 23, 2024
    See all posts