To mark Aperture 's return to a US-based printer, we present an issue that reflects on the image of American manufacturing, from the automobile as a symbol of the rise and fall of domestic industry, to how the worker, as subject, has fascinated photographers, from Lewis Hine to Lee Friedlander. A series of portfolios by contemporary photographers portray daily life in regional cities and communities, such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo. As debates continue about the country's economic future and the outsourcing of jobs, this issue offers an urgent reflection on life, work, and pursuit of happiness, in the USA today To mark Aperture 's return to a US-based printer, we present an issue that reflects on the image of American manufacturing, from the automobile as a symbol of the rise and fall of domestic industry, to how the worker, as subject, has fascinated photographers, from Lewis Hine to Lee Friedlander. A series of portfolios by contemporary photographers portray daily life in regional cities and communities, such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo. As debates continue about the country's economic future and the outsourcing of jobs, this issue offers an urgent reflection on life, work, and pursuit of happiness, in the USA today.