Campbellfield before 1878

Thomas Annan made this photograph of Campbellfield, near Glasgow, sometime before 1887, likely as part of his broader project of documenting the city's architectural history. Annan’s images have a documentary quality, but we should remember the cultural context. In rapidly industrializing Glasgow, a new middle class valued its connections to the past. This photograph, taken before its demolition, presents Campbellfield as a relic of an older, more genteel Scotland, an image consciously framed for the tastes of its time. The image serves as a kind of historical preservation, an act of remembering and idealizing a specific version of the past. To better understand this image, one could consult local historical records, architectural surveys, and period publications. The photograph and its cultural context show us how the past is never simply found, but is actively constructed through the selective preservation of images and stories.