Melnick, Robert A., Manhole Covers, with photographs by Robert A. Melnick.

M.I.T. Press, 1994. Wraps, second printing, very good plus with a few crimps. 252 pages.  Photographs in black and white by Melnick of manhole covers across the United States with text by his widow, Mimi Melnick. Introduction by Alan Sekula. Summary:

Manhole Covers (MIT Press, 1994) is an unusual and richly visual exploration of one of the most overlooked elements of the urban landscape: the cast-iron disks set into city streets and sidewalks that cover utility and sewer openings. What begins as a quirky fascination with everyday infrastructure becomes both a visual celebration of industrial design and a cultural history of American cities. The book brings together about 200 black-and-white photographs taken by Robert A. Melnick that document the enormous variety of manhole cover designs found across the United States. These images reveal that what most people walk over without noticing are often works of unexpected beauty and craftsmanship, with patterns ranging from geometric grids and starbursts to floral and symbolic motifs that reflect the identities of defunct utility companies, local foundries, and historic periods of urban development.

Accompanying the photographs, Mimi Melnick’s text provides historical context and commentary. She discusses the function and manufacture of manhole covers, their evolution over time, and their role in the broader story of public utilities and municipal growth. By treating these utilitarian objects as a form of urban industrial art, the book invites readers to look more closely at the built environment and to appreciate the design that lies beneath their feet.

Overall, Manhole Covers blends photography, design observation, and cultural history to transform a mundane subject into a poetic record of American urban life and material culture.

Robert Allan Melnick (1929–1982) was an American engineer and documentary photographer celebrated for transforming mundane urban infrastructure into a recognized form of American folk art and industrial design. Educated at the University of California, Los Angeles, Melnick pursued photography alongside his career as an electronics engineer, focusing his lens on the overlooked visual motifs of the urban landscape. In the 1970s, together with his wife, cultural historian Mimi Melnick, he embarked on a decade-long project documenting historic cast-iron utility lids across the United States, photographing hundreds of covers straight-down in high-contrast black and white to emphasize their intricate geometric, floral, and typographic patterns. Their pioneering work led to Manhole Covers of Los Angeles (1974) and contributed directly to Los Angeles designating select vintage covers as municipal landmarks. Following his death, his comprehensive photographic survey was brought to wider national acclaim when it was published in the landmark volume Manhole Covers (MIT Press, 1994), cementing his legacy as a vital visual archivist of American industrial design and material culture.