Peter Nitsch, photographer and designer, created this mesmerizing and intimate time-lapse video which captures the goings on at Madame Chusri Sripengsub’s Bangkok Hair Salon. The action takes place over the course of a half day. Take note of the incredibly fidgety woman who appears around the 1 minute mark. I think these images were first shown as still photographs. And I believe there even exists an iPhone and iPad app.

I feel more than fortunate to be able to spend time in both country and city. The contrast between rural and urban gives rise to an appreciation of place that I am not sure I would possess otherwise. I was looking at my photos from the summer and was so struck by the visual world I have just left behind. My husband took that first photograph of the young buck. The deer was fearless and refused to abandon his patch of ground full of fallen apples. That last photo was taken on Grand Street in lower Manhattan. A different sort of beauty.

I know this is a long post, but it wouldn’t be as fun if it were just a few images. Incidentally, these are not my photos, they are the work of Leandro Lattes, an industrial designer and one of the founders of El Vivero, a design studio based in Madrid. He has authored two books that beautifully document many of the less homogeneous design details of Madrid — things that are heading towards obsolescence from the urban landscape such as bar stools, door knobs, signage, facades, store displays, and on and on. The on and on part is what I love!! These intercoms are some of my favorites. Please note that these pictures are but a small percentage of the total for this particular category. Do yourselves a favor and check out the rest of the books. Do it here.

The first Cutler Mail Chute was installed back in 1884 in a building in Rochester, NY. Who knows how many of these are still in active use. I read that in Manhattan and the Bronx alone, there are well over 900 still in operation. Although, as a matter of fire safety, they have been banned in new construction since 1997. Which makes good sense. I suppose. I just love that there was an entire industry devoted to designing, manufacturing and installing these things. And, if you live in a city, you have doubtless seen, or perhaps even used, one of these. I can’t quite describe the thrill of seeing my little envelope hurtling downward into the box on the ground floor!

This has got to be one of the most photographed signs in lower Manhattan. And for good reason. The Ideal Hosiery store and sign on Grand Street is one of the last remaining bits of evidence of what was once an entire district of hose.