Dumped, but not dejected

Unwanted, unloved and dumped. So ends life for thousands of London cars each year. We’ve all seen them left smashed and dented on the roads, as if they’ve been on the losing side of an argument with the driver.

Cars can be seen in the twilight hours apparently having nookey, winking at you, or flying to heaven with a broken wing. Like sculptural carcasses, they seem caught out in a seedy world where human culprits are conspicuous by their absence.

Alan, who lives in Hackney, started snapping the car shells last summer when he became aware the dumping problem was getting out of control. Discovering many in bizarre locations, he traveled from the inner city to the sticks capturing the wreckages.

"I'm not overtly political but it's good to make people think a little bit," said Andy. "It's just quite sad that the consumer society we’ve turned into is as blase about chucking away things as big as cars — from an environmental point of view.

"Garages used to pay you £50 to get hold of your old car -but now you have to pay that to get the scrapheap moved - and people can’t afford it. It’s a problem that’s getting bigger in the poorer areas of London."

Up to half a million cars are thought to be abandoned on the streets of inner-city Britain every year. They are often cited as contributing to increasing crime, polluting the landscape and are generally used as skips. See this light-hearted take on a serious theme.