Plastic fantastic: vintage carrier bags – in pictures

Hull-based artist Aaron Thompson’s Instagram project Carry a Bag Man is a trip down memory lane. He first began collecting vintage carrier bags a few years ago, along with other packaging such as chocolate wrappers and crisp packets. It all started when he found an old Kwik Save bag in a shed. “I work in garden maintenance, so every time I had to take sheds or outhouses down, I’d come across bags.” So far, he’s photographed more than 250 for Instagram, from shops such as WH Smith, Topshop and HMV. Many of them are likely to bring back fond memories of the shopping sprees in January sales from years gone by. “The effort put into advertising back then was so much more creative and out-there,” he says. “It’s great to look at a bag and get that burst of nostalgia as soon as you see a design you’ve totally forgotten about.”

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