Broad Close No. 167 High Street 1868

Thomas Annan made this photograph, Broad Close No. 167 High Street, using photogravure, a process that translates a photographic image into an inked intaglio plate. During the 1860s and 70s, the City of Glasgow Improvement Trust sought to address the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions in the old part of the city. Annan was hired to document these areas before demolition. His photographs offer us a glimpse into the lives of the urban poor, capturing the harsh realities of their daily existence. Look closely and you will see children and adults rendered anonymous and small by the looming architecture. Laundry hangs overhead casting shadows on the cobblestone street, a potent symbol of the intimate lives lived in public. The stark contrast between light and shadow heightens the emotional weight of the scene, inviting us to reflect on the social inequalities of Victorian society. Annan’s image prompts us to consider whose stories are told and whose are erased in the making of urban progress.