After many, many weeks of trying to find time to make it to the Wednesday Rookery tour all the pieces finally seemed to fall into place today…I managed to get a sitter for my youngest, nobody got sick at the last minute and I didn’t have any obligations elsewhere…but it seems the universe had different ideas.
You see, the reason I want to specifically do the Wednesday tour is because it’s the only day you’re allowed access to the library. And the reason I want to see the library is because this is where many meetings took place regarding the 1893 World’s Fair. Why is this important? I’m working on the photo series The White City which is inspired by the book, The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson. This series is about the impact the 1893 World’s Fair had on architecture and the way in which it changed people’s views regarding the beautification of cities, all while evoking the darker, moodier side of the book as well as the dark, depressed perception of cities at the time.
However, much to my dismay someone decided to book the library for an all-day meeting and we weren’t allowed access. At this point I was just so frustrated and disappointed (because it can be seriously, ridiculously difficult to find any time for photography, especially something with such a specific schedule, when little kids are involved) that I bailed on the other portion of the tour. I’m going to need to go back another time to actually see the library anyway. There’s even a good chance the library may not offer any interesting photographic possibilities, based on what other photographer’s have said and the few images I’ve seen, but I still feel like it’s important to see it for myself.
Instead, I decided to drown my frustrations in some Chick-fil-A. Yep, I like to eat my emotions, lol.
Joking aside, not all was wasted. I did wander around the lobby to make a few images and stopped by The Palmer House, Chicago Symphony Rotunda and the Art Institute briefly before my failed tour attempt.  Most images I’ll share in later posts, but for now here are some views from the Rookery lobby. Even if they don’t work with The White City series and weren’t what I was hoping for today, it’s still an amazingly beautiful building.