Milos, Greece. October, 2011

In a college classical art history course, I learned from Professor Barbara Kaufman that the right-angled, squiggly ongoing line so prevalent in ancient Greek artifacts is called a meander. Makes sense. So I was doubly excited to find it represented on this manhole cover on the Greek isle of Milos. Why doubly? Well, I was able to throw around the term “meander.” And I could indulge my love of photographing manhole covers of many lands. This is a particularly good one, I think, not only because of the meander, but also because of the surrounding stonework, no?

Milos, Greece. October, 2011

In a college classical art history course, I learned from Professor Barbara Kaufman that the right-angled, squiggly ongoing line so prevalent in ancient Greek artifacts is called a meander. Makes sense. So I was doubly excited to find it represented on this manhole cover on the Greek isle of Milos. Why doubly? Well, I was able to throw around the term “meander.” And I could indulge my love of photographing manhole covers of many lands. This is a particularly good one, I think, not only because of the meander, but also because of the surrounding stonework, no?

Palermo. October, 2015

Frequent visitors to this blog know that I have a thing for both cemeteries and manhole covers. (Put away your Penguin Freud, please.) Here, a recent addition to my photo collection of the latter.

Rome. October, 1980

The first time I went to Rome, I was shocked when I saw SPQR on buildings, on municipal trash barrels, on manhole covers like this one. I’d always associated these imperial initials only with the glory that was the early Roman Republic, with the Caesars, Marc Antony, Nero, Spartacus. Senatus Populusque Romanus, the senate and people of Rome. It appears on ancient coins, monuments and on the standards of Roman legions. (My friend Janet’s mother had it as her vanity license plate years ago, which might tell you something about the woman’s parenting style.) Who knew that it still existed, still meant the same thing in the 20th century? I was also shocked to see that this cover was made in Florence, a longtime Roman rival in the fields of politics, culture and sport. So it came as less of a surprise when a Tuscan friend told me that many in the north of Italy translate SPQR as Sono porchi questi Romani. “What pigs these Romans are!” Nice.

Trinidad, Cuba. February, 2012

I take photos of manhole covers. Or their equivalent. Sometimes people stare. Let them. I like the variety. And the features that distinguish them from one another. Like language. Click here to see some others.

Trinidad, Cuba. February, 2012

I take photos of manhole covers. Or their equivalent. Sometimes people stare. Let them. I like the variety. And the features that distinguish them from one another. Like language. Click here to see some others.

Barcelona. November, 2010

Readers of this blog know that I love manhole covers of many lands. This isn’t one. It’s an impostor, a plaque in the sidewalk outside the excellent pasty shop Escribà. And not only does it contain text in the intriguing Catalan language, but look at all those little dingbats or icons or whatever they are. A scale, some tools, a loaf of bread. Fascinating.

Barcelona. November, 2010

Readers of this blog know that I love manhole covers of many lands. This isn’t one. It’s an impostor, a plaque in the sidewalk outside the excellent pasty shop Escribà. And not only does it contain text in the intriguing Catalan language, but look at all those little dingbats or icons or whatever they are. A scale, some tools, a loaf of bread. Fascinating.

New Orleans. March, 1991

I once asked a female friend why women seemed to love shoes so much. Much more than men seem to do. She said she suspected that it was partly because a woman’s shoe size generally never changes, no matter how her age, body type or other aspects of her appearance might. True? Who knows? The same “permanence” may fuel my ongoing interest in manhole covers of many lands. Seems like every place I go, I snap a photo of one. Solid markers that indicate the geographic location...and much more. Most times there is some pride of craftsmanship, some decorative whimsy, too. I love the moon and stars in this beauty from The Crescent City. I’ve also got some nice cover shots from Istanbul, Berkeley, Barcelona, just about everywhere I’ve been. The only problem, and it’s a very slight one, is the confusion often registered by locals when I seem to be ignoring all the beauty around me and focusing on the pavement instead. I can deal.

Rome. October, 1980

The first time I went to Rome, I was shocked when I saw SPQR on buildings, on municipal trash barrels, on manhole covers like this one. I’d always associated these imperial initials only with the glory that was the early Roman Republic, with the Caesars, Marc Antony, Nero, Spartacus. Senatus Populusque Romanus, the senate and people of Rome. It appears on ancient coins, monuments and on the standards of Roman legions. (My friend Janet’s mother had it as her vanity license plate years ago, which might tell you something about the woman’s parenting style.) Who knew that it still existed, still meant the same thing in the 20th century? I was also shocked to see that this cover was made in Florence, a longtime Roman rival in the fields of politics, culture and sport. So it came as less of a surprise when a Tuscan friend told me that many in the north of Italy translate SPQR as Sono porchi questi Romani. “What pigs these Romans are!” Nice.

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. November, 2013

I love taking pictures of distinctive manhole covers whenever I see them in my travels. I guess you might expect the ones in the Canary Islands to be a bit, well, tropical.

New Orleans. March, 1991

I once asked a female friend why women seemed to love shoes so much. Much more than men seem to do. She said she suspected that it was partly because a woman’s shoe size generally never changes, no matter how her age, body type or other aspects of her appearance might. True? Who knows? The same “permanence” may fuel my ongoing interest in manhole covers of many lands. Seems like every place I go, I snap a photo of one. Solid markers that indicate the geographic location...and much more. Most times there is some pride of craftsmanship, some decorative whimsy, too. I love the moon and stars in this beauty from The Crescent City. I’ve also got some nice cover shots from Istanbul, Berkeley, Barcelona, just about everywhere I’ve been. The only problem, and it’s a very slight one, is the confusion often registered by locals when I seem to be ignoring all the beauty around me and focusing on the pavement instead. I can deal.