The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow
Originally trained as a lithographer and engraver, Annan established a photography business in 1855 in Glasgow and initially specialized in the reproduction of works of art. Annan is now best known for his series of photographs, made between 1868 and his death in 1887, documenting the narrow streets of the inner-city slums of Glasgow. The photographs were commissioned by the Glasgow Improvement Trust to serve as a visual record of old Glasgow before the buildings were demolished and replaced by new ones. Working within a consistent and strictly confined motif, Annan was able to create incredibly successful pictures that also manage to appear sympathetic to the inhabitants of these inhospitable streets. The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow, which contains fifty photogravures, is an essential work in the history of photographically illustrated books.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow
- Artist: Thomas Annan (British, Dairsie, Fife, Scotland 1829–1887)
- Publisher: James MacLehose & Sons
- Author: Introduction by William Young (British, 1843–1900)
- Date: 1900
- Medium: Photogravures
- Dimensions: 15 9/16 × 11 13/16 × 1 3/8 in. (39.5 × 30 × 3.5 cm)
- Classification: Books
- Credit Line: Joyce F. Menschel Photography Library Fund, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.319
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Thomas Annan
1860s
Thomas Annan
1868–71
Thomas Annan
1867, printed ca. 1900s
Thomas Annan
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1860s
Thomas Annan
David Octavius Hill
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