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Steinway: Photographer Christopher Payne documents the making of a classic piano

In his series Making Steinway: An American Workplace, photographer Christopher Payne documents the manufacturing and craftsmanship that takes place at One Steinway Place in Astoria, New York, where people transform raw, often messy materials into some of the finest musical instruments in the world.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of Christopher Payne.

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of Christopher Payne.

It's craftsmanship that has almost disappeared from the American workplace and this concerns Christopher deeply: "Not only because I come from a musical family in which such craftsmanship was revered, but because I live in a time when fewer and fewer people make their own music.

"I first toured the Steinway factory in 2002, while still working as an architect, and for many years I kept thinking about what I had seen, given my interest in assembly and appreciation of the built form. After my father and grandmother passed away—both were pianists—my memories of the factory took on a more profound, spiritual importance and I felt an obligation to return to take pictures of the instrument so deeply connected to my family.

"The piano is something we all know and love as a whole; its deceptively simple, iconic form is instantly recognisable. But my photographs look in a different direction: a deconstruction of the piano’s unseen constituent parts and a glimpse into the skilled labour required to make them. While my architectural training helped me to understand how the piano works on a technical level, it remains even more of a mystery to me now than it was before. After spending countless hours photographing the choreographies of production and scrutinising the parts and pieces that will never be visible outside the factory, I came to realise that a piano is one of the supreme acts of human invention and imagination."

Stacked wooden piano soundboards resting on a worn wooden beam with a metal wheel, showing layers of raw materials in the Steinway factory
Hands wearing green gloves bend and work with sheets of copper veneer during Steinway piano manufacturing at the factory in Astoria, New York
Overhead view of curved piano frame components in various stages of assembly, with green-painted metal parts on the left and rust-coloured curved pieces on the right, separated by white dividers
Craftsmen assemble wooden piano components on a work table at the Steinway factory in Astoria, New York
Curved wooden components with vertical ribbed sections arranged in an industrial workspace, part of Steinway piano manufacturing
Repeating arched wooden frames recede into the distance in a symmetrical tunnel perspective inside the Steinway piano factory
A craftsperson sands wooden piano frames in the Steinway factory in Astoria, New York, with several frames in various stages of completion visible in the industrial workshop space
Craftsman examining a carved wooden piano pedal assembly in a Steinway factory workshop surrounded by tools and materials
Worker grinding metal components with intense sparks flying in the Steinway piano factory in Astoria, New York
Curved wooden piano case components stacked vertically in rows inside a factory warehouse, awaiting assembly.
Wooden shelving unit displaying an extensive collection of Steinway piano components including wooden frames, metal parts, decorative elements and various mechanical pieces used in piano manufacturing
Wooden piano frame components leaning against white timber boards, with curved soundboard piece on workbench in Steinway factory
Wooden piano soundboards in various stages of assembly line up on wheeled racks in the Steinway factory workshop
Wooden piano action components with shavings scattered across a work surface next to a tool and glasses during Steinway manufacturing
Steinway factory worker in green shirt operating machinery to shape wooden piano components at One Steinway Place in Astoria, New York
Interior wooden frame of a Steinway piano showing strings and mechanical components in a factory workshop setting
Worker in white shirt operating a large green industrial press machine to shape piano components in the Steinway factory
Worker in blue overalls adjusting a curved wooden piano rim on a lifting platform inside a bright factory workshop at Steinway
Piano frames with green supports rest on work tables in the Steinway factory workshop in Astoria, New York
Metal bucket filled with cork and wood strips used in Steinway piano manufacturing, alongside tools and brushes on a work surface
A Steinway grand piano being manufactured in the factory workshop at One Steinway Place in Astoria, New York, with multiple pianos and workstations visible in the background
Steinway piano factory worker in protective white suit and hood sanding piano wood components with circular sanding tool in manufacturing facility
A Steinway piano craftsman in glasses and dark jumper carefully adjusts the piano's action mechanism with a tool during assembly at the factory in Astoria, New York
Craftsperson wearing safety glasses and blue apron carefully painting or finishing wooden piano action components with a brush in the Steinway factory
Interior view of a Steinway piano showing intricate arrangement of strings, hammers and wooden components across multiple levels of the instrument's frame
Two workers carefully unwrap a grand piano in transit packaging marked with handling instructions and the Steinway & Sons logo at the factory in Astoria, New York
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