Boeing 737 MAX fuselage sections, 2023. Photographed by Christopher Payne (American, born 1968). Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita, Kansas). Courtesy of the artist.
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 Louis 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.
Enhance your visit with insights and audio commentary by the artist himself. In 29 audio stops, Payne shares personal stories of manufacturing processes and his creative practice. Download Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.
Trained as an architect, Payne (born 1968) is fascinated by design, assembly, and the built form. Payne’s books include Made in America; Making Steinway: An American Workplace; North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City; Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals; and New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway. His work has appeared frequently in The New York Times Magazine and in other major publications around the world, including The New Yorker, National Geographic, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Time, and Wired, among many others.
The exhibition’s accompanying publication, Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne (Abrams, 2023), features dynamic color photographs in an oversize format, along with a foreword by Kathy Ryan and introduction by Simon Winchester. Learn more about the publication.
Various resources are available to support your visit to the Made in America exhibition, including object descriptions, large print labels, and a sensory map. Visit the In-Gallery Resources page to learn more. More information about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt is available on the museum’s website.
The exhibition is organized by Susan Brown, Associate Curator and Acting Head of Textiles at Cooper Hewitt.
Exhibition design and graphic design are by TSKP x IKD.
Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne received support from Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target and New Balance.
Featured Image: Boeing 737 MAX fuselage sections, 2023. Photographed by Christopher Payne (American, born 1968). Spirit AeroSystems (Wichita, Kansas). Courtesy of the artist.
