challenges of capturing congress theater's cream-colored terra cotta ornament covered in scaffolding

as i stood across the street from the congress theater's facade,  i was reminded of my good fortune, to at one time have had intimate, unabridged access to the chicago athletic association's intricately ornamented building facade. the athletic club had a similar scaffolding configuration as the congress theater, but back then i was high on the scaffolding, only inches away from the facade's blue limestone and brick ornament where i could run my fingers across signatures left by builders back during the time of construction in 1892-1893.

in this scenario however, i did not have that privilege, and it proved incredibly frustrating. despite being able to capture a decent amount of detail with my 600mm telephoto lens, the images ended up looking like fragmented puzzle pieces, framed by iron tubing or dissected by wood decks.

a few months ago i repeatedly attempted to contact the general contractor to gain access to the facade, as i'd managed to do at the chicago athletic association building. i offered my onsite certificate of insurance, and as per usual, was more then willing to share any and all images once i'd meticulously documented the project, which in the this case, was the ornamental terra cotta facade.

frustrated, i resigned to spending the greater part of an afternoon capturing what i could of the caged facade, replete with thematic terra cotta assemblages in fragmented form. who knows -- perhaps this post will reach a few readers who might have a better chance at opening the door in some way. i can only hope for a serendipitous opportunity, a connection that may lead to doing this work on the scaffolding and not the street.