Stills

Is art getting in the way of description? There speaks the documentarian :-)

I don't think I was describing/recording these trolleys as such. If anything, I was recording the shininess. The trolleys are incidental.
 

This is one of those shots that could just as easily have been about forks or hubcaps or surgical equipment; the tonality and the play of light in shadow trump the subject matter in a way that only works when the execution reaches this level.
 

Because I was transfixed by the various points that I mentioned in my first comment, I failed to notice that the line along the bricks is not level! I now find that it distubs me because everything else is so strong.

While I understand Matt's point, the only object that fits in with supermarket trolleys (just) is the hubcap. Forks or pieces of surgical equipment are more neutral in their ubiquity (and survived millenia) and can easily be understood in a still life context as innocent vehicles for examining light/shadow. I have difficulty viewing certain objects solely for their treatment, which is not to say that my difficulty is translatable to anyone else. A supermarket trolley is a difficult one without a doubt, on a par with fast cars and jumbo jets. I wouldn't go as far as saying that this picture fetishises its subject matter but that is a danger in the way much photography is used to package and sell certain aspects of modern life.
 

John,

I was surprised you didn't mention the bricks the first time.

This (link) is Nicolai Grossman's take on shopping trolleys.
 

Thanks for the link. I would say that his pictures form a good composite even if one or two don't make it over into the arty category when an attempt is made to leave the documentary/observation behind. Some make their (verbalised) impact without words but there is an excess of jokey asides and titles. Interesting that he feels the need to explain red/blue trolleys as republican/democrat: the brits have been absorbed by the fortunes of the two for a while! There is a very different feel to your picture (leave aside the horizontal), predominantly because of the high quality of the finish; his have a cine verite feel, which has its appeal in certain of the shots.
 

Rough and smooth, black and white. I think its as simple as that. I don't even need to know what I am looking at to appreciate this. I don't even have a problem with sloping walls as there is enough forward and downward diagonals up front to balance this out.
 

shininess and the black and white execution indeed. I don't like the subject matter, but then I am not a big fan of what they represent eg shopping, but it's still an excellent photo. One to print glossy? Perhaps not, perhaps there's enough 'gloss' in the shot.
 

These are evil! I am sure these destroy more knees than sport! Why can't they make them so they go round corners without ripping my legs in half?

I see this as a pattern picture rather than a social documentary.