Jeane’s dumped shopping trolley snapping hobby... (From Brentwood Weekly News)

Jeane’s dumped shopping trolley snapping hobby...

6:00pm Monday 29th June 2009

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MOST people’s hobbies tend to be a little on the traditional side...but not Jeane Trend-Hill’s hobby. Her passion is photographing abandoned supermarket trolleys.

Jeane, 48, from Laindon, has taken so many snaps of discarded trolleys, she’s even published her own book about them.

The aptly entitled Off My Trolley, is a fun look at some of the strange things people do with trolleys, but there’s also a more serious side to the book.

Jeane, who moved to her home in Lee Chapel North, from Islington in London, four years ago, explained: “For some reason I’ve always found shopping trolleys incredibly amusing.

“I have spent the last year photographing trolleys and found this project highlighted the fact that, since you no longer have to pay to use them while shopping in most places, more trolleys are being wheeled away from their base and abandoned.

“I’ve discovered them all over Essex and other parts of the UK. In parking spaces, bus stations, roadsides and even people’s gardens. Some still contained items like a loaf of bread and a car tyre.”

Jeane said her odd antics have raised a few eyebrows in the past.

She added: “While I’ve been out taking photos I’ve had a lot of people approach me and ask if I am from the local council.

“Initially I used to say ‘no, it’s for a book’, but most rolled their eyes, muttered and ran away from me as fast as they could!

“I guess I did look funny crawling around, leaping out of the car or climbing walls to get shots.”

However, Jeane, who has also published a photographic book about cemeteries and headstones, added: “On a more serious note, about 10,000 new trolleys are stolen every year and many of these end up abandoned.

“The cost of replacement for retailers is about £80 per trolley.

“They blight our countryside and our towns and I think the authorities should clamp down on offenders.

“I know some people might laugh at this book, but it’s just something I wanted to do.”

For more information about the book, which costs £8.50, visit www.homestead.com/askjeane

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