Novenario, Olvera Street, 2005 - Day of the Dead F by...
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  3. Novenario, Olvera Street, 2005 - Day of the Dead FNovenario, Olvera Street, 2005 - Day of the Dead F
Novenario, Olvera Street, 2005 - Day of the Dead F
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The Dark Virgin - The Virgin of Guadalupe Festival


Novenario Celebrations, Olvera Street, Los Angeles, California, 2005.


This event, which takes place each night for nine nights, culminating on November 2nd, Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), is a blend of pre-Columbian and Catholic traditions and rituals. The procession makes its way around historic Olvera Street, in the heart of Los Angels, to the plaza, passing nine "ofrendas," or alters to the dead. The Novenario is beautiful, exciting, frightening and humorous, a symbolic gathering of both the living and the dead.


Photography Note: I usually favor razor sharp images - typically landscape or architecture - but that's not always possible following fast-moving subject after dark. While I used the flash on my camera many times to illuminate the Novenario particpants, I also tried experimenting with available light alone, and by coming the light from my camera with ambient. Did it work? The decision is up to the viewer.

Let There Be Light
Votive Candles outside Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles (Our Lady Queen of the Angels), otherwise known as, La Placita, the church across the road from Olvera Street.
Devil in a Calm Moment
Devils!
A Child Novenario Participant
The Dead Watch Us
Rest In Peace
Mexican Masks
Masks in Mexico have symbolic importance. Aztec dancers wore masks when invoking their gods, celebrants depicting Catholic saints wore masks during fiestas, and today Mexican wrestlers often wear masks, which they never remove. To lose a wresting match and to be unmasked by an opponent is the ultimate humiliation.

These masks are a color part of the scene along Olvera Street, not just on the Day of the Dead, but everyday.
Toy Skull Heads, Olvera Street
Rosary Beads Outside La Placita Church
Waitress
There are some very good fast food joints and some pleasant restaurants along Olvera Street, and they are jammed with patrons on November 2, before and after the Novenario. This photograph was made just outside the entrance to a restaurant, as the hostess waited to seat newly arriving patrons. Behind Ana's head, a lighted Day of the Dead display inside the restaurant seemed be part of her costume.
Shop Clerk
Well before the Novenario begins. the people who work along Olvera Street enjoy watching the passing parade of tourists.
Day of the Dead/Halloween Decorations
Marchers in the Procession
Angel or Devil?
Child Celebrants on Olvera Street
Bride and Groom in the Procession
Novenario Celebrant
The Band
The procession is led by a band - trumpters, saxaphonists, a drummer - who play with enough gusto and volume to raise the dead, if they aren't already awake and marching behind the musicians.
The Procession
There is a confusion of dancers, death figures and the crowd on this night of the Novenario.
Dancer
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