The Art of looking down
If I were to use a more direct title, this one would be called “A Selection of Manhole covers from across Japan”, but I choose not to. I like the juxtaposition of these metallic shapes against geometric floor patterns, so I’ve made a habit over the years of clicking them in every country I travel to. So, of course I continued seeking them out after arriving in Tokyo, starting with their numbering nuances and patterns, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for the variety and colour of the designs I started encountering as the days passed by. Geometric patterns, flowers, monuments, animated firefighters…
Until one day, on my way back from Horyu-ji, of all places, I stumbled on one with Pokemon on it. Pokemon, on a manhole cover, with the registered trademark sign and everything. Surprised, yet not at all surprised. Of course, they had a Pokemon manhole cover! And that moment I knew I must have stepped on a subculture (no pun intended), and once I started digging into it, of course, there was one. There are conferences, trading cards, pancake designs, public debates, special editions, all of it. Of course, there are. Japan, you magnificent weirdo.
Anyway, I’m just here to share a few of my images from the first few weeks. These things are notoriously hard to click (makes me wonder if that’s why I made a habit of it, torture in art, and all that). It’s so damn difficult to get a perfectly perpendicular shot framed the way you want to, while removing the unwanted street elements, not to mention your own feet. Most of the time these things are on sidewalks, and you look like a contortionist performing in public as curious strangers slow down in passing. And since you hold the phone so far away, you can’t actually see what you’re clicking, and getting the composition right needs so many takes. My wrists don’t like this hobby at all, and as for my balletic grace while standing on my toes…
Anyway, here goes.
The second one has my whole heart.
What a beautiful way to notice the man hole! But one should have an aesthetic mind to do so.