ANNIN FLAGMAKERS. Held in the hand, a flag is just a piece of fabric, but flying in the wind it represents a nation’s sovereignty, identity, and its most noble ambitions. Annin is the premier flag maker in the United States, founded in 1847 and family owned for six generations. Their flags have accompanied expeditions to the North and South Poles, were raised by Marines at Iwo Jima in 1945, and flew to the moon with the Apollo astronauts. Annin produces flags for many other countries, states, towns, institutions, companies, families and even custom flags for those popping the question, “Will you marry me?”

The scale of Annin’s operation is astounding: the variety of flags being produced, the multitude of sizes and colors. The challenge of photographing such a vast and busy workplace was finding moments of clarity in the visual chaos. Nothing stood out so clearly as the American flag. Whether seen as a single embroidered star on a field of blue, or a strip of red sewn to white, the whole was always evident in even the smallest details, a whole greater than the sum of its parts, like our nation itself.