I am pleased to introduce the successful completion of a 20-year obsession of photographing manhole covers — the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields. Just in time to celebrate my birthday at the end of the month. Moreover, November is the month the project was conceived way back in 1999 after a September trip to Scotland with my husband.
This celebratory edition began in June 2017 and accurately represents the creative exploration of geographic locations along ongoing travels between 2017 and 2020.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. The cover of the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. The 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields contains 84 die-cut manhole cover photos; two meandering books (French and English); three inserts and six die-cut manhole covers from past volumes.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. The reading experience of this concluding volume is produced through a meandering book (French and English version), and the sensory touch and photographic details of each manhole cover. The distinct images and text weave the story of my obsessive collecting and the series’ progress.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields.
A Short History of City Shields:
In the fall of 1999, a manhole cover piqued my curiosity while on vacation in Scotland. Observing how these manhole covers were different from those back home, they continued to fascinate me.
Archiving remains a topic in my art work and has been presented in various ways. The collection of manhole covers offered me a novel approach on the theme of autobiography. Photographing only those manhole covers I encountered maintained the autobiographical theme of my artwork in proper perspective.
Between 1999 and 2015, I eagerly photographed over thousands of photos from Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Manhole covers continued to define fascinating exploration of geographical locations along my own life journey. A cross country trip in 2016, provided an excuse to include distinct cities of Canadian provinces, from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and more volumes of Ontario.
The Design of City Shields Through The Years:
During this extensive on-going project, it was my goal to keep the exact same look and feel for each volume. It was not easy task, as cameras, printers, and papers all evolved through the years.
© 2020 Michael Sutton. Working on the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields, using Photoshop.
One thing that was constant was the workflow, all volumes of City Shields were designed and produced in Photoshop using the same template with small increments of change. Of course, not the same version of the software! Each volume throughout the years was boxed in a clear transparent Zip Drive jewel case, which I purchased thousands back in 2000.
In addition I used Adobe PageMaker then InDesign with Arial Narrow and Futura fonts for the insert; Poiret One font was added to the anniversary edition. All volumes are unsigned except the anniversary edition. The series is unnumbered.
© 2000 Louise Levergneux. The original 7 volumes printed with a DC100 printer on Ivolaser paper in an edition of 100. The 18 manhole covers photos included were die-cut by Capitol Box of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
© 2016 Louise Levergneux. Since 2006, all volumes have been an edition of 25 copies which has included 21 manhole cover photos. I published the volumes on Generation G-Chrome Lustre paper (manhole covers), Aspen Dual Sided Matte and Lasal Papers (inserts) for more control of colours and details.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. The anniversary edition contains 84 unbound die-cut manhole covers printed with my indispensable Epson Stylus Photo R3000. The edition contains a meander accordion book with text and photos painstakingly printed on Inkpress paper. A number of duplicate manhole covers and inserts from the past volumes are included. The whole is inserted in a two inch deep transparent acrylic box.
Twenty Years of Capturing Photos of Manhole Covers:
I began the unique adventure with a strange and new (for 1999) Nikon CP-950 digital camera and a Nikon Coolpix 5900 in 2000. I also photographed with a Canon PowerShot A710. In 2012, the investment of a Sony Alpha 33 D-SLR, my first digital single-lens reflex camera, naturally inspired me. The 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields was captured with my most recent digital camera — a Sony Alpha 6000.
© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Photo of a manhole cover celebrating Circleville, Ohio’s 100th Anniversary of its Pumpkin Show. This photo is part of the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields.
© 2019 Louise Levergneux. Photo of a manhole cover in Los Ebanos, Texas, right on the border of Mexico. This photo is part of the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. Detail of the 20th Anniversary Edition depicting a manhole cover of St Petersburg, Florida. Photo was taken in January 2019.
What I Observed While Producing City Shields:
• I uncovered the intrigue and fascination provided by these everyday infrastructures;
• I grasped the rapid transformation of cameras, printers, and papers into current pieces of technology;
• I learnt the practicality of artists when developing their designs capturing the history or the resources of a city;
• I established contacts with artists who seamlessly integrated the theme of manhole covers in their work; and finally
• I discovered many people were fanatics about unique designs of manhole covers.
© 2020 Louise Levergneux. More detailed manhole covers from the 20th Anniversary Edition of City Shields.
With this significant accomplishment completed, I now can concentrate on another unfinished project — Surveillance.