In this era of service jobs and office work, most of us have never been inside a factory. Several decades of global outsourcing and a flood of cheap imports have decimated American factories and hollowed out once thriving communities. Today we have little idea where, or how, the shirt on our back is made. As we become increasingly immersed in the digital realm, we are losing touch with our analog roots. Yet we still live in a physical world and surround ourselves with material things, and many of these things are still made in America.
For the past ten years Christopher Payne has embarked on a photographic journey to learn more about American manufacturing and the industries that built this country. Payne gained access to a world that continues to thrive, albeit on a much smaller scale and, for the most part, out of public view. Some factories are new and showcase the latest technologies, some have survived by staying exactly the same, catering now to niche markets that value the “genuine article” produced on vintage equipment. Regardless of their differences, they all share the common bonds of craftsmanship and a commitment to quality that can never be outsourced.
This body of work is 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. It is a deconstruction of the whole into its unseen constituent parts, revealing hidden moments of beauty in the choreography of production. It is also an homage to the people who do the actual work. They are a cross section of young and old, skilled and unskilled, recent immigrants, and veteran employees whose families have worked for generations in the same industry, sometimes in the same factory. Together, they share a quiet pride and dignity, proof that manual labor and craftsmanship still have value in today’s economy.
Payne carefully selected a handful of factories to communicate a broader view of American manufacturing: what it once was, where it is now, and what its future might hold. Manufacturing has been regarded traditionally as the symbol of the nation’s economic health, and its loss is seen as a threat to our collective soul and identity. Yet not all is so bleak. While there are industries pictured here that are barely hanging on, there are also creative adaptations and altogether new inventions that carve new pathways for American manufacturing.
There is, for sure, a certain romance in the making of things, but it is not only nostalgic. These industries are living, breathing expressions of the American journey. We welcome you to join us online for this exceptional selection that really is a culmination of many years of work by the artist. We will also have highlights from “How to Build a Guitar” at our Woodstock location this winter season! See you there! For press and other inquiries, please email: info@benrubigallery.com