Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Made in America: Christopher Payne in Conversation with Alexandra Lange

The museum event features Christopher Payne, an architect‑turned photographer, discussing his exhibition “Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne” with design critic Alexandra Lange. The conversation explores how photography shapes public perception of American industry and labor. Payne’s work continues the legacy of mid‑century industrial photographers such as Alfred T. Palmer and Gordon Parks, but he updates the genre with digital tools and a focus on contemporary factories. His architectural training informs a compositional emphasis on form, repetition, and scale, turning noisy production floors into quasi‑drawings. He also uses color—bright safety gear, candy‑colored components—to inject humanity into otherwise sterile spaces. Examples cited include a chaotic Hyundai plant in Georgia, a 2011 Steinway piano‑factory shot, an electric‑bus assembly line in California, and nostalgic images of Bethlehem steel documented by Joe Elliot. Payne recounts the logistical challenges of gaining access, the fleeting nature of many sites, and the emotional resonance of familiar objects like “Peeps” candy that appear on the line. The dialogue underscores the urgency of preserving visual records of a manufacturing sector in rapid transition, offering designers, historians, and policymakers a richer context for sustainable production and heritage conservation. By framing factories as architectural spaces, Payne’s photographs invite a reevaluation of the built environment that extends beyond iconic skyscrapers to the unseen factories that supply everyday goods.