I have to give credit where credit is due for this one. Friend and former coworker Kristin N. took a picture of a manhole cover while on a business trip in New York. She printed it and put it up in her cubicle and I thought it was pretty cool. So now, every city I go to, I make a point to capture a street cover.
What may normally be considered urban afterthoughts in the U.S. have been elevated to works of art in Japan. Custom covers there are unique to towns all across the country. They are beautiful in their own metallic, circular, rustic way.