1 00:00:01,766 --> 00:00:04,366 JOHN YANG: Empty fountains. Quiet corridors. Shuttered storefronts. 2 00:00:04,366 --> 00:00:07,800 Once the bustling centers of a community's social scene, 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:12,800 malls aren't the fixtures of everyday life they once were. Ideastream Public Media in Cleveland 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,100 brings us the story of how one photographer is documenting these once grand-structures. 5 00:00:20,966 --> 00:00:24,733 JESSICA ANSHUTZ, Photographer: So this photo is of me, and I was 18 months old, 6 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:32,100 and my mom had me at Chapel Hill Mall and she was approached by a photographer from 7 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:39,666 the Akron Beacon Journal who asked if her child would pose with some tiger cubs. 8 00:00:41,833 --> 00:00:46,300 So this picture ran in the Akron Beacon Journal in 1978. 9 00:00:48,433 --> 00:00:53,400 My name is Jessica Anshutz, I am a documentary photographer and a storyteller. My dad is a 10 00:00:58,033 --> 00:01:03,000 bricklayer and one of his first jobs was working at Rolling Acres mall during the building of the 11 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:10,333 mall. So, quite literally, from the first bricks of that place, my family has been involved. 12 00:01:13,133 --> 00:01:18,133 I went on my first date at that mall, at the movie theater. I had my very first job at the mall. I 13 00:01:20,566 --> 00:01:24,900 started photographing malls in 2016. I've always been interested in architecture and buildings, and 14 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:33,200 I drove by Rolling Acres on my way to my mom's house. Every season, I would go and take different 15 00:01:35,166 --> 00:01:38,633 pictures, you know, because there were trees growing up in the parking lot, and the leaves 16 00:01:38,633 --> 00:01:43,633 would change. You can look at the storefronts and know from the colors and patterns, like what 17 00:01:45,933 --> 00:01:50,900 store used to be there. There might be a label scar. All of the plants were dead. The fountain 18 00:01:53,433 --> 00:01:56,933 was empty. It just it smelled old and moldy and musty, but it's still, you know, it was a mall. 19 00:02:01,966 --> 00:02:06,966 With malls now, they've taken all the seating out. You know, you don't see fountains. Like even 20 00:02:09,566 --> 00:02:12,600 plants are hard to come by. And it's just this big white box that you go in, you shop, and you leave. 21 00:02:14,533 --> 00:02:19,500 When I visit malls, I am very immersed in the actual experience of it. I shop while 22 00:02:22,233 --> 00:02:26,400 I'm there if I can. We'll get a snack. We'll go sit by the fountain if they 23 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:31,400 have one. And I think that lends itself to photos that are a little more atmospheric. 24 00:02:33,366 --> 00:02:37,033 And I feel like my photos are a little more intimate. I've always had a camera. My parents 25 00:02:39,833 --> 00:02:44,833 put one in my hands, very young, I will see something or experience something, and if 26 00:02:46,966 --> 00:02:50,766 it's impactful enough, I want to know everything about it. I'm looking at it from more of, like, 27 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,466 wanting to document these places while they're still around and engaging with people and just 28 00:02:59,066 --> 00:03:03,000 enjoying the nostalgia. But I'm also not a person who is like and I think mall should still exist. 29 00:03:05,566 --> 00:03:09,333 In a lot of ways, the time of the mall has passed. I do think it's important 30 00:03:09,333 --> 00:03:14,333 for photos and the folklore of a mall to still exist. There's definitely an 31 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,733 interest. And I've noticed locally, like, if I post pictures, local people are just like, oh, 32 00:03:23,633 --> 00:03:27,233 my gosh, I haven't thought about that place in so long. And it just -- it sparks all of 33 00:03:27,233 --> 00:03:32,233 these memories and discussions that reinforce what I'm doing. And if I can be the person who 34 00:03:34,733 --> 00:03:39,733 helps them spark these memories and spark these conversations, then that's fantastic. I love it.