The Darkroom

On Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, the Darkroom was a camera shop that advertised itself by looking like a camera. The Los Angeles Conservancy credits architects Edward J. Borgmeyer and Marcus P. Miller, lists it under the 1920s and 1930s without a firm year, and calls it one of the city's last remaining examples of programmatic architecture, in which a building resembles its purpose. A nine-foot-tall Argus camera on the black Vitrolite facade, in the Conservancy's words, "announced The Darkroom's wares quite literally." The Conservancy adds that some claim the tenant projected short films through the camera-lens window for passers-by. Its Art Deco neon signage was removed and is now owned by the Museum of Neon Art, while the facade is a protected Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. The Conservancy describes the building as a restaurant. A photography blog post dated 7 May 2025 reported the facade boarded up and said the building had previously housed a series of restaurants. The facade can be viewed from the public sidewalk.