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  • #480061

    When visiting the Detroit Main Library in downtown Detroit, this chest was found near a window. I did my best to capture the details of this beautiful piece of art though the bright light coming in from the window was quite the challenge.

    Let’s start with the information plaque that described this metal chest.

    Here’s a little bit about George Sorenson (1881-1868):

    While working at a foundry in Detroit, George Sorenson met Henry Ford. In 1905, he accepted a job as a patternmaker at Ford Motor Company. By 1907, he was head of the pattern department. He translated Ford’s ideas, which came to him in the form of simple sketches or descriptions, into prototypes and into the patterns from which the parts would be cast.

    Sorensen (with others, notably Walter Flanders, Clarence Avery, and Ed Martin) is credited with developing the first automotive assembly line, having formulated the idea of moving a product (for cars, that would be in the form of the chassis) through multiple workstations. His innovations were widely applied to the mass production of complex products, which average people could afford.

    One Sunday in 1910, at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant (I have toured the Ford Piquette Plant and shared several photos with you) , Sorensen asserted that he and another Ford executive, Charles Lewis, tested his idea. Apparently, by the end of the day, he had determined that moving a car in a straight line from one end of the factory to the other, with parts added along the way by specialized workers performing repetitive tasks, with the stockrooms also placed strategically along the line, was the most efficient and therefore the cheapest way to build an automobile. To prove his theory, he then towed an automobile chassis on a rope over his shoulders through the Ford plant while others added the parts.

    In 1928 Sorensen joined Henry and Edsel Ford as the three US directors out of seven on the board of Ford’s new reorganized independent European operations. I am assuming that this how he received the gift of the chest from Stalin.

    George was quite a talented and gifted man who held a prominent position in the company and was responsible of a lot of its success during Ford Motor Company’s first 40 years. By the end of his career, he had become an officer of the company: a vice president and a director. Speaking figuratively, he saw himself during most of his career as “a viceroy ruling the production province of the Ford empire,” and at the end as a “regent,” who managed the company during the “interregnum” between the reigns of Henry Ford I and Henry Ford II.

    Photography is the art of observation. It has little to to with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. Elliott Erwitt
    Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Zuiko 14-150 mm zoom, Zuiko 2.8 60mm macro, Sigma 2.8 Fish Eye. Nikon D5100

    #905327
    Humburger
    Default

        Wow! How beautiful. Thank you for the nifty story and photos.

        Ginny
        www.virginiacmccoy.com
        C & C Welcome

        #905326
        Greenhill
        Default

            “From Russia with Love,” might also have been an apt title, Lorell … and gee, I reckon old Joe probably kept his State Secrets locked away in that chest!

            As there appears to be no exif data embedded in these files, may I ask what camera you shot them with?

            MY FLICKR
            OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 Mark II * OM-D M5 MkII * XZ2 * XZ1 * E3[FONT="Georgia"]
            The camera kneads the dough, PP bakes the bread - Greenhill

            #905322

            Beautiful photos of a beautiful pies Lorell, thanks for the historical data.

            Doug


            We must leave our mark on this world

            #905324
            Cameraman
            Default

                Long time I NO POST, I know. However, you did a smashing job considering the light levels..

                I wonder in a case like this if HDR maight keep the highlights under control? This is just a thought only. I am going to study this idea and see if this is true.

                Norm Dunne
                Lover of the Old Masters Art Period

                #905325

                Thanks you all for the kind words.

                Norm, I agree, a bracketed series of shots would have supplied a helpful lot in getting a better exposure for this chest.

                Mark,
                This was a few months ago and I used my NikonD5100. I know my new camera would have had an easier time. Actually it was after our visit to the dimly lit library that I decided it was time to look into buying a new camera.
                “from Russian with love”…yes, why didn’t I think of that?

                Ginny,
                Thank you, I am glad that you enjoyed the explanations.

                Doug,
                Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. When you visited Michigan. Did you ever get the chance to go to the Detroit Institute of Arts? We have a really great art museum and the library is just across the street from it.

                Photography is the art of observation. It has little to to with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them. Elliott Erwitt
                Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, Zuiko 14-150 mm zoom, Zuiko 2.8 60mm macro, Sigma 2.8 Fish Eye. Nikon D5100

                #905323

                t is a good few years now, and we did visit the Toledo Art Gallery, but we did visit a museum or gallery in Detroit on one occasion Lorell.

                Doug


                We must leave our mark on this world

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