Close No. 37 High Street 1868

Editor: This is "Close No. 37 High Street," a haunting photograph created by Thomas Annan in 1868 using an etching print. I am really struck by the claustrophobic feeling it evokes. What story does this image tell you? Curator: Ah, yes! Annan, through his lens, whispers stories of a Glasgow unseen, a world of shadows and lives intertwined within these 'closes'. The light struggles to reach down into that deep corridor, doesn't it? See how it carves out the forms of the figures, gives weight to the damp walls...almost making you smell the stone. Does the scene evoke a particular time of day, do you think? Editor: I get the sense it’s perpetually dim in there, irrespective of the time. The clothing hanging across the alley looks heavy with dampness. The figures feel like they are emerging from, or perhaps dissolving into, the darkness. Curator: Exactly! These weren't simply documents. For me, they feel more like soulful poems dipped in sepia tones, wouldn’t you agree? What feelings rise within you, when you consider the living conditions here? Editor: Melancholy. And perhaps a sense of injustice? The figures seem resigned, like this is simply their existence. It's beautiful and sad, almost simultaneously. Curator: Beautiful and sad. I couldn't phrase it better. I see resilience there too, though...the strength of community forged within the close quarters, don’t you think? It makes me wonder: what does "home" mean in a place like this? Editor: It certainly shifts my perspective. I’ll think differently about the concept of ‘home’ from now on. Curator: As will I. A photograph can be a mirror to ourselves as well.