A wise woman holds court on a Havana side street: cigar in hand, with a well-dressed cat by her side. (photograph, 2019)

Like an archaeologist of the ordinary, I found myself drawn to the places where color and texture tell hidden stories—the weathered blue walls of Havana where layers of paint peel back to reveal histories; the precise geometric patterns of sidewalk tiles in Kathmandu that thousands walk across without noticing; the vibrant pink and yellow demarcation lines on Brazilian streets that form accidental compositions.