Close No. 157 Bridgegate 1868

Curator: This image, “Close No. 157 Bridgegate,” was captured in 1868 by Thomas Annan and is currently held in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago. It’s an albumen print. Editor: Stark. The light and shadow play dramatically through this narrow lane. It's not welcoming, yet it's compelling in its realism. You feel like you're there. Curator: Absolutely. Annan’s photographs are so powerful because they document areas of Glasgow that were facing demolition due to slum clearance projects. He was commissioned to record these spaces, preserving a visual memory of a disappearing world. Editor: It makes you wonder about the people who lived here. The textures of the buildings tell their own stories, a lived history etched into every surface. What about that outbuilding with the open door on the left? Curator: Those textures are critical, you’re right. The light really emphasizes the roughness of the stone, the wear and tear. The image, devoid of figures, amplifies a sense of absence. Editor: Yes, that absence gives the lane an almost ghost-like quality. Though utilitarian, I can’t help but read the alley and the looming gas lamp as characters, watching silently. I keep returning to the image and imagining them, their narratives lingering. Curator: It's the emotional tension, the feeling of being in the presence of something heavy, that endures for me. It challenges us to look at our relationship to urban spaces and what happens when communities disappear. These images challenge us to confront these realities in Glasgow but really around the world too. Editor: The composition guides your eye straight down the narrow lane, pulling you into this forgotten space and encouraging contemplation about what remains after the old order is erased. Curator: Indeed. In this way, Annan transformed documentation into lasting visual poetry. It has left a deep impression with a cultural importance that reverberates even now.