los angeles city hall, julius shulman 1933
“City Hall, Los Angeles, 1933, John C. Austin, John and Donald Parkinson, Albert C. Martin” by Julius Shulman. J. Paul Getty Trust. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Research Library at the Getty Research Institute.
From this angle and on this date, I think this standing water in the foreground may be in Chinatown. Okay that's not the Federal Building under construction, not in 1933, so what is it? On the other hand, I believe you can see the Los Angeles Times building peeking out from the left shoulder of the City hall. It appears the Times building has its roof on, which would place the photo later than 1933, the Times building being under construction in 1934 and opening in 1935.
Well, I think I can see where Mr. Shulman set up his camera to get this shot. I think he set up on the roof of a building northeast of City Hall, but which building? I believe the intermediate building between the lense and the Hall of Records is the International Savings & Exchange Bank on the southwest corner of Main and Temple (on the same plot of land as the new City Hall). Look at this image from 1927, I think you can clearly pick out the International Exchange & Savings Bank and by lining it up with the Hall of Records and then following that line to the northeast, you end up very near the corner of Aliso and Los Angeles Street or, perhaps, Arcadia and Los Angeles Street. I believe the standing water is on the flat roof of a building near the south end of Calle de los Negros.
downtown Los Angeles, 1927
I'm convinced the date on the Shulman photograph is incorrect, perhaps by as much as four or five years. The Times building places it in at least 1935 and maybe later and the construction in the right midground seems most likely to be the Federal Building. The Baker Block also helps place the camera near the south end of the Calle de los Negros.