Carted
By Jamie Grace-Duff
12 Jul 2008
While working in North Adams, MA, I noticed a sign outside the grocery store stating "Do Not Remove Carts. Police Take Notice." Well, I am not so sure about the police, but I sure took notice. The carts showed up in every section of town in all sorts of situations. What follows is a series of pictures of the carts in their mysterious second life outside the aisles of the grocery store. None of these images were staged, they were found, framed and snapped for posterity.
Maybe the carts were intrigued by the stories they had overheard while they were shopping. So off they went. They tried swimming in the creek, with mixed results. They got movie tickets and tried fast food. One cart even tried hiding out on the front porch. Other carts moved slower, taking their time to enjoy the scenery. One cart went down the wrong alley and met with an unfortunate demise.
There were two perils to the carts - either being taken to the city dump, or being captured by the cart catcher. He also took notice of the wayward carts and rounded them back up, herding them in with the other carts.
Since I started this series, friends and family have started to take notice of the odd times and places grocery carts appear and have started taking their own shots and forwarding them to me. Now, no matter where I am, I see the carts and try to document their behavior. I even have a shot of one in the Bahamas.
