He Covers Manhole Covers Daniel Fireside is Drainspotting Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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WEBVTT HE IS DRAINED SPOTTING. >> IN A LIFETIME, THE AVERAGE AMERICAN MUST WALK OR DRIVE OVER THOUSANDS OF MANHOLE COVERS. BU WHOEVER STOPS TO PONDER THAT? SOMERVILLE PHOTOGRAPHER DANIEL FIRESIDE, THAT’S WHO, WHO CAN’T KEEP A LID ON HIS EXCITEMENT FOR MANHOLE COVERS. >> THIS IS THE OLDEST THING ON TH STREET, AND IT IS IN A MAZE -- IN AMAZING CONDITION. SOMEBODY MADE THIS. FIRESIDE HAS BEEN ZEALOUSLY DOCUMENTING MANHOLE COVERS ALL AROUND GREATER BOSTON AND WHEREVER HE TRAVELS, FOR THAT MATTER. TH QUIRKY OBSESSION STARTED WHEN HE TOOK HIS TODDLER FOR A STROLL AROUND THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD. >> MY TWO-YEAR-OLD AT THE GROUND AND SAI ABC. I LOOKED DOWN AND THERE WAS A G. IT OPENED UP A STRANGE WORLD. I HAD MY PHONE WITH ME AND I SNAPPED A FEW PHOTOS. RESEARCHING THE ORIGINS OF MANHOLE COVERS, FIRESIDE DISCOVERED MANY IN SOMERVILLE AND ARLINGTON WERE MADE IN THE LATE 1800S. BACK THEN, THERE WERE DOZENS OF AREA FOUNDRIES. FOR THE ARTISANS WHO FASHIONED THEM, MANHOLE COVERS WERE INDUSTRIAL REMBRANDT. >> THEY HAD CRAFTSPEOPLE THAT PUT INTRICATE DESIGNS ON THEM. THERE IS A HUMAN TOUCH TO THIS UTILITARIAN OBJECT. >> PROFESSIONALLY, FIRESIDE RAISES CAPITAL FOR A COFFEE COMPANY. HIS COWORKERS FIND HIS PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT AMUSING, B COOL. WHEN HE’S ON THE STREETS, MOST BYSTANDERS ARE SIMPLY BAFFLED. >> I GET MISTAKEN FOR A CITY WORK A BUNCH. PEOPLE TELL ME, THERE IS A POTHOLE OVER HERE. I USUALLY EXPLAIN WHAT I AM DOING, AND WITHIN A COUPLE MINUTES, THEY ARE LIKE, THAT IS REALLY COOL. I TOLD HIM, THIS ONE IN FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE IS FR THE 1870’S. THEY SAY, I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT. >> FIRESIDE’S FAMILY LOCATION OF THE QUESTIONS THE SANITY OF DARTING INTO TRAFFIC TO SNAP A PHOTO. HE IS TEENAGE SON TEASES HIM HE WOULD BE A PERFE CANDIDATE OR A PRIZE RECEIVED ONLY POSTHUMOUSLY. >> THERE IS A THING CALLED A DARWIN AWARD WERE PEOPLE DIE IN STUPID WAY. YOU GET HELD UP AS EXAMPLES OF NATURAL SELECTION. HE IS WORRIED THAT THAT IS HOW I AM GOING TO GO. >> TO DATE, FIRESIDE HAS POSTED SOME 3000 PHOTOS ON INSTAGRAM UNDER THE HANDL "IRON COVERS." TURNS OUT HE IS NOT ALONE. THIS HOBBY, OFTE CALLED DRAIN SPOTTING, IS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON. >> I HAVE PEOPLE WHO SEND THE THEM FROM RUSSIA, INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NORWAY HAS SOME INTERESTING ONES WITH SAINTS ON THEM. OLIVER THE WORLD, PEOPLE LOOK DOWN AT MANHOLE COVERS AND SAY, I SAW THIS ONE AND THOUGHT OF YOU. >> DANIEL’S WORK COPY I OF SOMERVILLE’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION. BRANDON WILSON IS INTERESTED IN CREATING SIDEWALK MANHOLE WALKING TOUR FOR LOCAL CHILDREN. >> I THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE A FUN WAY T INTERVIEWS YOUNG CHILDREN TO THE CITY LIFE AND SOME OF THE WAYS IT HAS CHANGED OVER MANY YEARS. IF YOU REACH CHILDREN AT AN EARLY AGE, IT MAKES FOR LIFELONG CURIOSITY. >> THIS MANHOLE COVERAGE IS FIRESIDE’S FAVORITE TO DATE. FROGS CIRCULATING AN UNFORTUNATE FL IF THIS IS OUT THERE, HE MUSES, WHAT OTHER COVERS ARE OUT THERE? >> IT APPRECIAT -- IT MAKES ME APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF THE STREET, OF AN OLD RUSTY MANHOLE COVER.

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