Just a Good Conversation: Christopher Payne

Christopher Payne specializes in architectural and industrial photography. Trained as an architect, he is fascinated by design, assembly, and the built form. His first book, New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway, offers rare views of the behemoth machines hidden behind modest facades in New York City. Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals, which includes an essay by Oliver Sacks, is a journey through America’s abandoned state mental institutions. North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City, explores an uninhabited island of ruins in the East River, providing a glimpse into a city’s future without people.

Payne’s recent work has veered away from the documentation of the obsolete towards a celebration of American manufacturing and craftsmanship. Through the past decade, with personal projects and editorial commissions, he has been on a photographic journey to learn more about what’s made here: the traditional industries that “built this country” as well as the newest and most technologically advanced processes. These images can be found in his latest book, Made In America, published by Abrams in fall 2023. 

Made In America (Abrams, 2023)
Making Steinway (Steinway & Sons/Benrubi Gallery, 2016)
North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City (Fordham University Press, 2014)
Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals (MIT Press, 2009)
New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002)