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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2009 1:47:28 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 5, 2009 2:37:21 GMT
Ohhhh ~~ These are wonderful! I absolutely love that you took them as-is, too, without brushing off the grit or anything. They're really rich pictures.
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Post by bjd on Dec 5, 2009 13:14:32 GMT
Interesting. Last year I discovered a friend of a friend collected pictures of manhole covers. I took some for him but didn't keep the copies. Ah, I just found one from Berlin.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2009 13:26:59 GMT
Oh,that one's a beaut. I wonder do they have the same problem we have here with people stealing them as "souvenirs".(The 3rd one in the pics being the collectible). It is cleverly reproduced onto everything imaginable from t-shirts to clocks if you're into that sort of thing.
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Post by bjd on Dec 5, 2009 14:59:03 GMT
I googled "stealing manhole covers" -- it seems that it's mostly for the scrap iron rather than for artistic appreciation. It seems to happen a lot in the States, but maybe that's because I googled in English. No idea how to say that in German.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2009 4:18:22 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 6, 2009 16:21:17 GMT
Great picture, Bjd! It's funny about Casimira's pictures, since I used to live where she does. I've seen those metal covers a thousand times without really looking at them or thinking about them. (Except for the water meter one, which everyone loves.) But looking at them here, especially teamed with a foreign (to me) cover, raises all kinds of interesting questions. For instance, in what era were they designed? The Berlin cover has a hopeful, futuristic look -- the 30s? The first picture in the series looks as though more thought were given to making it non-skid. Every one of them has a professionally designed look, making you wonder how the artist was found, what was his/her "real" job, etc.
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Post by bjd on Dec 6, 2009 17:32:33 GMT
No, the Berlin one must be much more recent. The TV tower in the centre was built during the East German period. Rikita would know the exact time, but I think it was the late 1960s or early 1970s. And as I look more closely, it looks as though that is Norman Foster's dome on the Reichstag building, just to the left of the TV tower. So very much more recent.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2009 16:08:14 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 10, 2009 16:44:42 GMT
Ohhhhh -- pretty!
Boy, did that bring back a regional "word" -- "Did you get your nopsi bill yet?" ;D
(New Orleans Public Service, Incorporated)
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Post by imec on Dec 10, 2009 21:36:08 GMT
Not sure how I missed this thread (although I've done that a few times lately : . These are great!
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Post by fumobici on Dec 11, 2009 6:19:06 GMT
Nice thread idea. I have no pictures to add but nominate Rome's SPQR manhole covers as having the most venerable branding.
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Post by imec on Dec 11, 2009 20:19:39 GMT
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Post by imec on Dec 11, 2009 20:25:28 GMT
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Post by imec on Dec 11, 2009 20:33:07 GMT
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Post by fumobici on Dec 11, 2009 21:07:44 GMT
That last one with the congruent waveforms is fantastic.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2009 12:09:52 GMT
Good eye there Imec! And nice to know my mind's eye not the only one" in the gutter "so to speak . Most of the time my head is in the clouds but,occasionally I do check things out on the ground . Great pics. Do love the wavy one a bunch. I remember I took a lot of these in NYC but can't find now!
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Post by Don Cuevas on Dec 12, 2009 13:48:28 GMT
Here's one from Mexico City's Colonia Roma. (It's been "posterized" in PhotoShop Elements.)
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 12, 2009 14:07:31 GMT
It's impossible not to love that wavy cover, Imec, but they're all wonderful. I am quite drawn to the minimalist #3, as well.
Casimira, I think they have those oval ones in N.O., too, don't they? I believe that's where they turn off the water with that big wrench.
Very nice, Don Cuevas! Any idea what the first D is for? (
D. Distrito Federal [federal district, analogous to the DC in Washington DC] Cuauhtemoc municipal region road works feathered crown [picture]
And then there's the trademark Mexican touch of a raised loop, so there will be something to trip over!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2009 21:19:21 GMT
I have seen many splendid manhole covers in France, so I was surprised to notice... not much of interest when I went to take a look at the various items in my neighborhood. I think that one of the reasons is because Paris has such a gigantic underground network that most of the subterranean entrances are big retangular plaques with built-in stairs. In my memory, however, these plaques are supposed to be massive round ones with "Pont-à-Mousson" imprinted on them.
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Post by lola on Dec 12, 2009 22:28:12 GMT
Very nice, all. Chicago has especially good ones. We need a correspondent there.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2009 2:15:27 GMT
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Post by imec on Dec 13, 2009 19:38:42 GMT
I love this one casimira.
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Post by lola on Dec 13, 2009 22:01:05 GMT
and even better cause it's wet.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2009 22:14:34 GMT
I was intrigued looking at the Paris ones (many of which I did not photograph) by how many different designs there were. I suppose that this is to assist the various companies in finding "their" installations and not so much for just making pretty.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 14, 2009 0:55:18 GMT
The middle one in the Paris series is extremely nice, and the small one on the bottom left is downright pretty. I guess part of the purpose of the designs would be to make the covers less slippery.
Casimira, your wet t-shirt cover is beatiful. You really have a knack for capturing water and wetness.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 14, 2009 0:57:15 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2009 6:20:22 GMT
I prefer to think that it is a good sign when these things do not look like they've been opened for a long time -- it means that everything is working properly, right?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2009 11:48:54 GMT
I prefer to think that it is a good sign when these things do not look like they've been opened for a long time -- it means that everything is working properly, right? Most of the ones I photographed are in my immediate neighborhood,heavily populated,recent street overhaul. Am now curious about other less inhabited,perhaps still ravished areas. Will check out. As for our neighbors in Mexico,we have always joked about the "OSHA moments,"Occupational Safety and Health Administration,one experiences throughout that lovely country.I guess this is as good a time as any to introduce the concept. ;D (The people in my neighborhood have begun asking questions,there goes that lady who points her camera up at the sky or down on the ground )
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 15, 2009 5:05:15 GMT
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