In his post, 1989: American Malls, photographer and writer Michael Galinsky shows us how American malls are "the places where nothing — and everything — has changed." (Additional curation by Chris Wild.)
In 1989, Galinsky was a 20-year-old student who spent a month traveling the U.S. Everywhere he went, he documented a shopping mall.
"The results are now an archive of a vanished world, simultaneously familiar and foreign, trivial and full of meaning," says Galinsky.
In the 1980s, many viewed malls as the cold, corporate replacement of a vibrant downtown main street with independent shops. Here we get a different, sometimes nostalgic view of the shopping mall from Galinsky; a brick-and-mortar place to loiter that isn't the colder, even more solitary experience of cybersphere social networking outposts.
Galinsky's images hark back to quirky stand-alone business as well as some familiar retail outlets. And lots of puffy ski jackets and hair do's (and don'ts). Galinsky has worked with the acclaimed Rumur, an independent film studio based in Brooklyn.
For more images and observations, see Galinsky's book, Malls Across America or also Galinsky's current film project, All the Rage.
Do you have a photo of shopping and working at a local mall in the 1980s? If you do, share with us by posting in the comments below or emailing them to [email protected].
