Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Made In America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne
December 12, 2025 – October 4, 2026
Made in America brings together more than 70 large-format photographs captured by Christopher Payne over a decade-long photographic journey to learn more about the craft of both industrial and artisanal making in the United States. His images celebrate the combination of human skill and mechanical precision that transform raw materials into objects as diverse as pencils, semiconductors, pianos, and rockets.
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. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. This exhibition is also made possible by New Balance.
Wool carders, 2012. Photographed by Christopher Payne (American, born 1968). S & D Spinning Mill (Millbury, Massachusetts). Courtesy of the artist.
