The year started as rains poured on Southern California, causing massive landslides, and ended in equally dramatic fashion with wildfires ripping throughout the Southland.
Genaro Molina documented the end of an era at The Times’ Olympic printing plant. After deciding to outsource, the company had announced that the facility, once a crown jewel in a vast media empire, would shut down sometime in 2024.
Times photographer Robert Gauthier captured all the commotion behind the scenes of the 2024 Emmys as winners made their way backstage and presenters waited in the wings. The stars mingled, read their cue cards and watched the monitors offstage.
The Times photo staff covered the university protests, where groups of demonstrators clashed at UCLA, one of numerous universities where students have erected tents as part of a wave of protests by students, faculty members and staffers demanding an end to Israel’s actions in Gaza and divestment from firms that sell weapons or services to the country. USC access was also restricted to students, faculty, staff and registered guests after more than a week of protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
The sports year ended with the Dodgers and the Galaxy both hoisting championship trophies in 2024, marking a year of ups and downs.
We hope you are able to look back at the year’s events through the lenses of the Los Angeles Times’ staff photographers.
Taggers have marked up what appears to be more than 25 stories of a downtown Los Angeles skyscraper that’s been sitting dormant for several years. Construction on Oceanwide Plaza — a $1-billion, mixed-use retail and luxury apartments project with three towering, unfinished structures — stalled in January 2019 after its Beijing-based developer lacked the funds to complete it.
A pressman picks up stray newspapers from a conveyor belt at the Olympic Printing Plant in Los Angeles on Feb. 15.
The calm waters of Manly Lake in Badwater Basin on the morning of Feb. 26.
San Quentin SkunkWorks, a nonprofit made up of inmates and prison reform advocates, holds a chess tournamenton March 5.
John Cena waits backstage during the the 96th Annual Academy Awards in in Hollywood on March 10. The nearly nude actor and professional wrestler was preparing for a comic homage to a streaker who ran across the stage during the 1974 Oscars ceremony. Cena presented the award for costume design.
A surfer heads out to surf as the morning sun creates shadows near the pier in San Clemente on March 11.
Vehicles are escorted through a closed section of Highway 1 after the road slipped out south of the Rocky Creek Bridge on April 2 in Big Sur, Calif.
A pedestrian walks past Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on April 6.
Hundreds of asylum seekers await interviews with U.S. Customs agents at the San Ysidro Border Crossing on April 25.
Emory Douglas, capture and rescue specialist with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, rescues a dying Brown pelican on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on May 8.
Climber Jonathan wears belay glasses, which give climbers a 90-degree view without craning their neck, at Robbers Roost, a world-class rock climbing destination near Las Vegas on May 13.
Jessie Ortiz practices his roping skills in the backyard of his family’s home in unincorporated Bloomington, in San Bernardino County. Ortiz has helped organize ‘cabalgatas,’ or traditional horesback rides that celebrate the charro cowboy lifestyle.
Scores of law enforcement personnel from various agencies move hundreds of demonstrating students, faculty and supporters protesting the treatment of Palestinians and the UC system’s investments in Israeli interests on May 15.
A group with The Rare Gems Productions participates in the Los Angeles Pride Parade in Hollywood on June 9.
Grant Wactor, left, joins a June 12 rally to protest the shooting death of his brother Johnny, an actor who was killed after a late-night shift at Level 8 bar in downtown L.A. Police said Johnny Wactor and his co-worker encountered a crew of people trying steal the catalytic converter from Wactor’s car, and one of them shot him as he approached. Wactor, 37, starred in “General Hospital,” the NBC series “Siberia” and HBO’s “Westworld.”
Graduates Grace Shelby Roemer, left, and Guinivere Kimber dance down the aisle during UCLA commencement ceremonies.
Mike Anderson of Las Vegas wears a mask and hat while having a drink at The Huntington House in Huntington Beach on July Fourth.
Carli Dugan of San Louis Obispo dances in the water during a July Fourth fireworks show in Huntington Beach.
The Pacific Park Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier is illuminated with red, white and blue.
Law enforcement officers on July 5 investigate the scene of multiple stabbings that left two dead at 16th Street and Pelican Avenue in Huntington Beach. Violence erupted when a man began attacking July Fourth celebrants the night before, leaving four others hospitalized.
A audience member watches the Seek immersive show experience at Cosm on July 18 in Inglewood.
Former President Trump walks onstage during the Republican National Convention on July 18.
Donald Trump arrives for day two of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Performers during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France on Aug. 11.
Vice President Kamala Harris embraces husband Doug Emhoff after she delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention at the United Center.
Mary Serritella, 71, performs at the Comedy Pole Show at the Bourbon Room on Sept. 18 in Hollywood.
Barbie collector Azusa Sakamoto is photographed in West Hollywood on Oct. 15.
Maristella Burchietti is immersed in the exhibit “BB,” by artist Tadao Cern, at the Balloon Museum’s “Let’s Fly Los Angeles” show at the Ace Mission Studios in Los Angeles on Oct. 30. The museum consists of interactive installations and artworks created by 18 internationally renowned artists. It is open until March 16.
The Dodgers celebrate their World Series win, traveling in a parade along 5th Street in double-decker buses in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 1.
Jenna Fuentes of Harbor City makes an angel in confetti after the Nov. 1 Dodgers parade.
A man runs into the water at the Manhattan Beach Pier as Christmas approaches.
A helicopter drops water on the Franklin fire in Malibu on Dec. 10.