Enticing Images: Malls as Albums
Sushma Sabnis

If one travels into a distant future, one might nostalgically
look at their then favourite mall structure with some then old
actress selling the then used to be lotion-potion for eternal
beauty. When one looks at the older photographs of the ‘mall’
family archives, one will be able to see the formation and
sweet evolution of a visual, ever so enticing and attractive.
Take for example the ancestor of the mall, the ‘super store’
where, everything under the sun (literally!) was on display
and available. The Bombay Store, Akbarallys, Vama are classic
never fading examples of the super stores of the 80’s which set
the trend for the future.
Rewind to a few generations before that to a humble
grandparent, the ‘shop around the corner’ in spite of its limited
space, unkempt display, would have cellars and godowns,
attics filled to the brim with every possible merchandise
one could require. The super store had a cousin called the
‘super market’ which also can be seen as a genetic offspring
of the much elegant and sophisticated super store, same
species but not as pretty. In the case of a mall, after much
deliberation and hand holding, offshoots and far off cousins
like mini malls and mega malls, exclusive malls for jewellery,
electronic items, furnishings and such have mushroomed
under this rather large family tree.This thread has been taken
further as inspiration and has been woven into intricate and
complex binds, knots, weaves and chains with multi level
understanding and approaches to the market creating the
very fibre of Mall Visual Culture.