Christmastime in the City (Mall)
A collection of the metro's shopping centers, decked out in their holiday finest
At the outset of the holidays, just as the first boxes of Christmas ornaments were appearing on store shelves, I told myself that I would try to make it out to every mall in the area during the peak shopping season.
I wanted the chance to capture every mall at its most bustling; at its most alive. I wanted to capture the magic of shopping in December: The lights, the tinsel, the tired parents contemplating a second mortgage to keep Junior believing in Santa for another year.
Christmas is when malls are at their most mall-y. Christmas is when even the most tired shopping centers pull out all of the stops, bound and determined to capture the imaginations and wallets of holiday consumers. It is an extravaganza of consumerism; the one time out of the year when a person can honor our Lord and Savior by buying fourteen pairs of tartan pajama pants, a 65 inch television, a teddy from Victoria’s Secret, and a pair of Uggs.
It’s the ultimate win-win for the shopaholic. Piety at Penney’s, Salvation at Saks.
Of course, as is so often the case, life had other ideas for my best-laid plans.
Those peak shopping days ended up filled with other things I had to do, and other places I had to be. The responsibilities of adulthood took precedence over any artistic fantasies.
And so, instead, I snuck off to the malls when I could, capturing the slower moments of holiday retail.
At least so far, I have not captured the madness of Black Friday, or the filled parking garages of a sunny December Saturday. I have not captured the most glamorous moments at Frontenac, or the bizarre melting pot that is The Galleria on a busy day. Instead, I found the people like myself. The people trying to pick up a few gifts on their lunch hour, or hurrying around after dinner, hoping to make it to the nearest Dillard’s before it closed.
I found life. Regular, harried, poignant life. Surrounded by all of the lights and tinsel of Christmas.
Just to think, I haven’t thought of malls in such a long time, and less as a bustling place to be around Christmas. So thank you for your commentary and reawakening my imagination about malls.