I saw a review of the industrial photography exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt and had to go. The museum is in a gorgeous Andrew Carnegie mansion on 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. While the four floors cover a lot of design, I was worn out after just the photography exhibit. I must go back. I highly recommend the Cooper Hewitt with kids, especiallly this exhibit, which is through September 27, 2026.
What brought me to the museum was the Made In America – industrial design exhibit. It features large photographs from Christopher Payne. He photographs inside U.S. factories, showing both broad shots and close-ups of the process, people, and details involved. And I think any kid would find it interesting.
The exhibit features 70 of his photos. You can listen to him explaining how they are made and what is happening in them, with the free Bloomberg app (the app is helpful at many NYC museums). Above, you will see someone cutting leather shapes to make footballs. On the right, a factory making cymbals.
Payne has a talent for finding the right people and placement to really highlight sizes and complexity. Above is an airplane engine, unsheathed. To see the parts up close in the photograph is amazing.
Payne convinced Goodyear to let him into their factory to shoot pictures for a NYT kids section. They wanted to do something with tires, and there are only 3 manufacturers in the U.S. that make large tires like this. It is 13 feet high! In the app he explains the process of making them and how he got the man in the photo to pop out, as well. Like in many of the factories, he is restricted as to what he can shoot. In some cases the communications team checks his photos before he leaves and destroys any he isn’t allowed to have.
The series above details the making of the Oscar statuettes. The explanation was helpful with the lost wax technique. Each stem holds 3 Oscars, which use bronze and gold plating. They are all accounted for and locked up – there are no “seconds” or extras.
Payne spent many years going to the Steinway factory where they make pianos. Above is just one of the photos – there is a series on display showing the keys, the soundboard, action mechanism, the weights on the keys, and how they wrap the wood into the right shape. The photo above, of exterior casing, is when they’re drying out. He got them to arrange them in this order, and said he’d never get this photo again as they now use buttresses to hold them in place.
The photo above is a flag factory. He talks about how they make other flags, but these are obviously the most striking. He discussed (on the app) the process of rolling out the different colors.
Payne had dreamed of photographing Peeps at the Just Born factory and finally got the chance, again for the NYT. The line he was supposed to photograph was closed that day – a line that is wider and has many more going through at a time. This one was a surprise to him, as it curved, and it turned out better than he anticipated.
I was going to take a mansion tour after going through Payne’s exhibit, but the tour guide had an unfortunate asthma attack. Instead I’ll spend my time reading about the mansion on the Cooper Hewitt site, and hopefully take a tour on my next visit – since I missed so much while there.
