Found my old photo album from the Westgate Mall food court

I was looking through pictures from 2008, back when that place was packed every weekend. I mean, there's a shot of me and my friends by the fountain, and the whole background is just people. Went back last fall to take some decay photos, and it was totally silent except for water dripping. It hit me then that I'd been trying to capture the 'spooky' vibe in all my shots, but what I really missed was the noise and the life. I spent two hours that day just sitting on the broken tiles where the Orange Julius used to be, listening to nothing. Does anyone else ever get that feeling, like you're documenting a ghost but you actually miss the person?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_brown501mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, does it ever feel like you're trying to take a picture of the memory itself, not just the empty spot? Tbh I get that with my old school, like the photo just feels like a shell.

xena_brown501mo agoMost Upvoted

Nah, gotta hard disagree on that one. Sometimes a broken window is just a broken window, not some deep symbol. People read way too much into empty buildings, like they're trying to force a sad story onto some old bricks. The photo is just of the place as it is now, that's all. Getting hung up on what's gone just ruins the actual picture in front of you.

henry_martinez1mo ago

Man that post got me lol. I always thought those urban decay photos were just cool looking, but you're right. It's not about the spooky empty space, it's about what used to fill it. Kinda makes me want to go dig up my own old mall pictures now.