Back Wynd from Trongate 1899

James Craig Annan made this photogravure, "Back Wynd from Trongate," using a copper plate etched with a photographic image, then inked and printed onto paper. Annan was a key figure in the Pictorialist movement, which aimed to establish photography as a fine art. This image is a wonderful example of that ambition. Notice how the photogravure process, with its soft tonal range, lends the scene an atmospheric quality. The rough texture of the buildings and the cobblestone street are palpable, and the eye is drawn down the narrow alleyway by the play of light and shadow. But beyond its aesthetic appeal, the image also speaks to the realities of urban life. The back wynd, or alley, was a place of labor and commerce, but also of poverty and neglect. In Annan's hands, it becomes a subject worthy of artistic attention, blurring the lines between documentary and fine art, and raising questions about the social and economic forces that shape our built environment. This is a work in which materiality, making, and social context intertwine, and challenges our understanding of the world around us.