What makes a watch tick? A camera shoot? An iPod shuffle?

This traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution exposes the inner workings of many of our everyday possessions, disassembling them and artfully illustrating that even the most intricate of modern technologies can be broken down and understood. Featuring more than three dozen images from Toronto-based photographer Todd McLellan and four fully dismantled objects, the collection underscores how technology has evolved over time.

Individual components of a record player, a Sony Walkman, and an iPod, for example, illustrate the different approaches to sound reproduction over the years. At the same time, McLellan's work challenges our disposable culture by exposing the things – the quality, beauty, and care that went into making them – that we regularly discard as outdated.