Winter is my favorite time of year, because - in short - I finally get a chance to breathe. My busy season runs from spring until Christmas, so I spend most of the year running (not complaining, just stating the facts lol). I always look forward to winter (because I'm a weirdo & I love early sunsets, snow, and cold, foggy days). But I also love winter because it also gives me a little bit of extra time to recharge, refocus, and dive into creative projects I've been putting on the back-burner.
I've always been drawn to industrial structures and abandoned spaces, but over the past few years, that admiration has evolved into an infatuation with malls. I'm old enough to remember a time when malls looked much different than they are today. I remember a time when malls glowed with neon lights, buzzed with teenagers gathering minus cell phones, and hazed with cigarette smoke rising from ash trays nested on every trash can.
Between online shopping and covid, I think it's safe to hypothesize that malls are going to have to adapt to changing times. I've been wanting to embark on a photo project that highlighted the malls as they are today - before the inevitable changes the shape of them forever.
Being the sentimental Pisces I am, I had to start with my local mall - the mall I've been perusing since I was a wee lasse at 5 years of age. For my first mall project, I chose my muse couple - Kat & Rasheed - to collaborate on this project with me. They came through with the lewks 100%.