Aug. 13, 1965: National Guard troops secure a stretch of 103rd Street, dubbed Charcoal Alley, in Watts...
-------------------
Great photo. Just a note, he probably didn't use a flash because that would haved killed the backlight from the street lights. The trick was probably Kodak Tri-X 400. It's a fast film that makes shots like the above possible. This guy probably kneeled down to steady the camera for a moderately long exposure and shot slightly upward. I really liked the liquid darkness this film had. It created a great sense of freedom, because you were freed from the tyranny of the light source...
I was back in Iowa City painting houses for the summer. There used to be a great coffee place, named something like The Mill where we'd go in the morning for a breakfast snack and a look at the papers.
Watts and other neighborhoods had been simmering for years under LAPD behavior, which almost always started off as a traffic stop. Back in those days, they'd pull you over and then search you and the car looking for whatever they could find, drugs, alcohol, guns, or possible `stolen' property. There wasn't any Miranda or probable cause back then. Since nobody was supposed to be walking around at night in LA, that was supicious behavior enough for a squad car stop and id check.
CG