Rogue Supermarket Trolleys

Man with supermarket trolley outside the Whitechapel gallery, 1989

I’ve noticed recently that supermarkets go to great lengths to prevent trolleys being removed from their premises. So it is with pleasure that I present these photographs of liberated trolleys from my archive. The man on Whitechapel Rd is framed magically by the entrance of the Whitechapel gallery creating a moment that suggests an installation that has spilled from the gallery onto the street. He is using the trolley probably to replenish restaurant supplies. In contrast the family below were photographed on the sea front at Brighton on a anti nuclear demo in the early 1980’s. Here the trolley doubles magnificently as a child carrier and a piece of agitprop demonstrating some of many alternative uses these trolleys can be put to.

Supermarket trolley on Brighton sea front, early 1980's

In contrast to the noble alternative uses above this sad trolley (below) was photographed on the edge of the river Thames just where it shouldn’t be.

River Thames with supermarket trolley, 2007