Is There Life Out There? :...

Outdoor Frolics

Southern California puts on a show even when it’s just having fun. John Oglevee cuts up for fellow cast members of “Pearls for Pigs” during a rehearsal break at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse. Seals swirl in to grab lunch at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Our Mother, Our Car

Traffic jams, personalized license plates, valets. It’s no wonder that in songs and elsewhere, we’re known for our cars. “L.A. has a great big freeway. . . .” Harley Hulin plays on top of his mother’s car while the westbound 210 is stopped in Montrose for police activity. The downtown L.A. skyline is reflected in a car hood as a woman leaves her car with a valet. A dog awaits his owner, above what appears to be his personal license plate, at a Malibu shopping center.

Very Still Life

Art is all around us, but do we always appreciate it? A woman pushes a stroller past a gilt-framed scene in the window of a rug and painting shop in Glendale. Richard Marias and son David wake up to a three-dimensional scene during a “Cat Nap” sleepover at the Natural History Museum.