26 b/w photographs of manhole covers and other access points to the underground from places in Europe and the US, a great diversity of shapes, sizes and inscriptions, some are small and easy to overlook, others are more eye-catching and take up a considerable part of the paving, sometimes the covers are neatly integrated into the paving, forming the centre of a regular harmonious mosaic, at other times the manholes claim their space more forcibly, breaking up and dislodging the surrounding stone patterns and leaving any gaps to be filled up with the debris of their conquest or whatever is at hand; when we think of street signs we picture stop signs and arrows on poles raised skywards, but this book encourages us to turn our gaze downwards and read the signs that actually sit on the streets themselves; each picture is accompanied by a caption listing its place and year.
Soft cover, 16 x 24 cm, 72 not numbered pages, Clonmel 2019
ISBN 978-0-906630-59-4
