I shot an assignment recently at Minnesota’s 8th Wonder of the World, the Mall of America.  I was shooting for a Norwegian magazine doing a story pitching the Mall as a reasonable place for Norwegians to do their Christmas shopping.  Clearly, the exchange rate has gotten a little out of hand.  In addition to the obvious shots, like the amusement park, the aquarium, the Mall’s head of PR in a Santa hat out in front of the mall, we spent a lot of time in lingerie shops.  I got the feeling the photos I was shooting, and the story being written, were conveying a sense of “those crazy Americans, look what they’ve gone and built” while at the same reveling in and celebrating that very same over-the-top quality.  Which I guess is as a good a way as any to describe how I (and I suspect a lot of other locals) feel about the place.  When the circus plays in your backyard every day, it’s easy to become blase and jaded about it, but it’s still loads of fun.