So, I've always found it hard to connect to many people over the course of my life because I find I have no common interests with them. They always talk about what's mainstream and what everyone else is doing, but then I try to talk about stuff I'm interested in - niche, almost obscure stuff as far as the mainstream goes, and nobody really cares.
It's kinda disheartening in a way. It doesn't really help that I often find whatever's mainstream to be kinda dumb and mindless.
I photograph stop tap covers, I did start with the larger manhole covers but a. they are usually in the road, so dangerous to capture, and b. too big to get an image dead perpendicular to the camera shot. Its always been an interest and I started by trying to do rubbings on plain wallpaper, bit like brass rubbing, but it wasn’t very successful. The advent of smart phones made it really possible and then in the pandemic when all we were allowed to do was go for a token walk I captured most of the types in my area. I even have an entire one, won on ebay. Its top is the simple lid you see in footpath but beneath is some serious cast iron. I like those especially which name the foundary that cast them, eg: Stanton and Stavely, they really are beautiful “found art”.
