Photographer: Emily Lyons-Wood @thelyonswood | Model: Riley Hundley @rileyhundley | Makeup Artist: Adrienne Duterte http://www.impactartistrymua.com | Hair Stylist: Marcella Angelicchio @dressesyourtresses at http://www.ceremonysalon.com

“Imagine a movie scene where the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” echoes through the halls of an empty galleria. The camera pans to a woman hurriedly walking down corridors occupied not by excited shoppers, but by fond memories and nostalgia. As long as she can pace this Towne Center, she can still hold on to the time she finds most dear. This is the very woman that inspires the featured photo story. Her heart belongs to the 80’s and her fondest recollections to this mall, as it prepares to be demolished.

This scenario is real. We shot in the Cary Towne Center Dillards, within months of it being torn down. The booming era of the “American Mall” reminds us of a time where a sense of community and leisure centered itself at various shopping centers around the country. That time has long passed. As the desire for in-person retail shopping plummets, many of these industry giants find themselves bankrupt and on the verge of corporate collapse. Consumers are now thinking more carefully about how and why they buy. Corporate retailers are shutting their doors as the era of small-business patronage and online binge buying sweeps the nation. We decided to take a snapshot of this time period and accentuate its moment in time. To juxtapose the previous corporate focused shopping era with the sustainability focused new wave, we chose to use only vintage, second hand, or previously purchased pieces for our wardrobe selections.”