WEBVTT

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JOHN YANG: Empty
fountains. Quiet corridors.
Shuttered storefronts.

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Once the bustling centers of
a community's social scene,

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malls aren't the fixtures
of everyday life they
once were. Ideastream
Public Media in Cleveland

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brings us the story of how one
photographer is documenting
these once grand-structures.

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JESSICA ANSHUTZ, Photographer:
So this photo is of me,
and I was 18 months old,

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and my mom had me at Chapel
Hill Mall and she was approached
by a photographer from

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the Akron Beacon Journal
who asked if her child would
pose with some tiger cubs.

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So this picture ran in the
Akron Beacon Journal in 1978.

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My name is Jessica Anshutz, I
am a documentary photographer
and a storyteller. My dad is a

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bricklayer and one of his
first jobs was working
at Rolling Acres mall
during the building of the

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mall. So, quite literally, from
the first bricks of that place,
my family has been involved.

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I went on my first date
at that mall, at the movie
theater. I had my very
first job at the mall. I

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started photographing malls
in 2016. I've always been
interested in architecture
and buildings, and

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I drove by Rolling Acres
on my way to my mom's
house. Every season, I
would go and take different

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pictures, you know, because
there were trees growing up in
the parking lot, and the leaves

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would change. You can
look at the storefronts
and know from the colors
and patterns, like what

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store used to be there.
There might be a label
scar. All of the plants
were dead. The fountain

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was empty. It just it
smelled old and moldy and
musty, but it's still,
you know, it was a mall.

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With malls now, they've
taken all the seating
out. You know, you don't
see fountains. Like even

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plants are hard to come
by. And it's just this big
white box that you go in,
you shop, and you leave.

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When I visit malls, I am
very immersed in the actual
experience of it. I shop while

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I'm there if I can. We'll
get a snack. We'll go sit
by the fountain if they

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have one. And I think that
lends itself to photos that
are a little more atmospheric.

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And I feel like my photos are
a little more intimate. I've
always had a camera. My parents

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put one in my hands, very
young, I will see something or
experience something, and if

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it's impactful enough, I
want to know everything
about it. I'm looking at
it from more of, like,

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wanting to document these places
while they're still around and
engaging with people and just

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enjoying the nostalgia.
But I'm also not a person
who is like and I think
mall should still exist.

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In a lot of ways, the time
of the mall has passed. I
do think it's important

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for photos and the folklore
of a mall to still exist.
There's definitely an

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interest. And I've
noticed locally, like,
if I post pictures, local
people are just like, oh,

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my gosh, I haven't thought
about that place in so long.
And it just -- it sparks all of

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these memories and discussions
that reinforce what I'm doing.
And if I can be the person who

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helps them spark these
memories and spark these
conversations, then that's
fantastic. I love it.