Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne

Have you ever wondered how everyday things are made? Christopher Payne’s photographs take you inside American factories, showcasing the traditional craftsmanship behind the creation of musical instruments, flags, footballs, and pinball machines, as well as the intricate hand processes still critical to creating the most advanced products, ranging from microchips to the Giant Magellan Telescope. The first large-scale photography exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Made in America showcases the design process through photography bringing the object, the machine, and the hand together. Payne’s photographs highlight manufacturing as a fundamental part of the design process. “My photographs are a celebration of the making of things, of the transformation of raw materials into useful objects and the human skill and mechanical precision brought to bear on these materials that give them form and purpose,” Payne said. “They are also a celebration of teamwork and community, revealing how people of varying ages and skills come together to work toward a common goal.” For more than a decade, Payne has photographed factories across the U.S., similar to predecessors like Lewis Hine and Gordon Parks. Through his visually arresting photographs, Payne documents a world of making and makers that continues to change at staggering speed. Some factories still use traditional handcraft methods, while in others, engineers and technicians work side by side with robots, pushing the limits of technology and collective intelligence—both human and artificial. In celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, this exhibition brings together more than 70 of Payne’s large-format photographs to consider the American factory as a key site of design ingenuity and innovation.