Trolley Books is an independent UK publisher, specialising in art and photography books. Areas covered by Trolley include social reportage, photojournalism/current affairs and contemporary art and architecture. Founded in September 2001 by Gigi Giannuzzi and based in Fitzrovia London, Trolley Books concentrates on producing documentary photography books. It is "known for its controversial and left-of-centre exhibitions and photography and art books" According to the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards, Trolley presented " exceptional and extraordinary group of books exploring a range of difficult subject matter… Trolley’s beautifully designed and produced books have a real sense of conviction and purpose that sets them apart." Trolley Books is the publishing arm of a family that also includes the Trolley Charitable Trust, whose aim is to support long term photographic projects which result in a Trolley publication, and TJ Boulting, the exhibition space on Riding House Street run by directors Gigi Giannuzzi and Hannah Watson.
Publications
Trolley Books have worked closely with, and published the work of, several Magnum Photos photographers including Chien-Chi Chang, Werner Bischof, Carl De Keyzer, Thomas Dworzak, Alex Majoli, Paolo Pellegrin, Ilkka Uimonen, and most notably Philip Jones Griffiths. Major publications include Recollections and Agent Orange by Philip Jones Griffiths, Homeland and Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq by Nina Berman, Kurds – Through The Photographer’s Lens by the KHRP and the Delfina Foundation, Chernobyl – The Hidden Legacy by Pierpaolo Mittica and New Londoners – Reflections on Home by the charity Photovoice in association with 12 young refugees, living in London. Trolley published the first two books by British photographer Robin Maddock, Delta Nigeria: The Rape of Paradise by George Osodi, The Only House Left Standing by Tom Hurndall, The Gentlemen of Bacongo by Daniele Tamagni and A Million Shillings: Escape from Somalia by Alixandra Fazzina, which won the Nansen Refugee Award, the first time this was rewarded to a photographer or journalist. The majority of Trolley's publications are categorised as photojournalism, but the company has also produced contemporary art books, for example several works by Nick Waplington including Double Dactyl, Paul Fryer and Damien Hirst's: Don’t Be So… and Laureana Toledo's The Limit. Trolley published its first fiction title, The Hardy Tree by Iphgenia Baal in 2011, followed by Baal’s second book of short stories, Gentle Art in 2012.
Awards
Rencontres d'Arles 2003, Hide That Can by Deirdre O’Callaghan was awarded the Best Book of the Year
19th Annual ICPInfinity Awards 2003, Alex Majoli was awarded the Photojournalism Category for News or Documentary Projects and Hide That Can by Deirdre O’Callaghan was awarded the Publication category
Pictures of the Year International 2003, The Chain won the Best Photography Book, Leros was given the Judges’ Special Recognition
Photo District News Annual 2003, Leros and The Chain were included in the Best Books category
Photo-Eye Awards 2003, The Chain nominated in the Best Photography Books category
Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards 2004, shortlisted for Zona: Siberian Prison Camps by Carl de Keyzer
Golden Light Award 2004, Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin’s Mr Mkhize’s Portrait and other stories from the New South Africa won in the Best Documentary Book category; iWITNESS by Tom Stoddart received an honourable mention in the same category
Making Art Work: The Mike Smith Studio ed. Patsy Craig was shortlisted for the Historians of British Art Book Prize 2005
Royal Photographic Society 2004, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin were awarded the Vic Odden Award for their work on Mr Mkhize’s Portrait and other stories from the New South Africa
American Photography Awards 2004, both Agent Orange by Philip Jones Griffiths and Open Wound: Chechnya 1993-2004 by Stanley Greene were selected as two of the ten Best Photography Books of the year
Photo District News Annual 2004, Ghetto by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin and Zona by Carl de Keyzer were included in the Best Books category
World Press Photo 2004, Stanley Greene was awarded the World Press Photo Award in the Daily Life Story category for Open Wound: Chechnya 1994-2003
GRIN Awards winners included Ghetto by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin and The Chain by Chien-Chi Chang
Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards 2005, Nina Berman awarded Second Prize for Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq.
World Press Photo 2005, Nina Berman was awarded 2nd prize in the Portraits Series section for Purple Hearts: Back from Iraq
In March 2005, Trolley Books received a special commendation from the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards 2004 for its outstanding contribution to photography book publishing.
