The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow
Thomas Annan British, Scottish
Publisher James MacLehose & Sons
Introduction by William Young British
Not on view
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.
