Bell Street from High Street
Thomas Annan
British, 1829–1887
1868
A photogravure by Thomas Annan that records Bell Street in Glasgow’s Old Town, made to document the cramped stone tenements and urban life of the city in the late 1860s.
The picture arrests you with a deep, narrowing view of cobbled pavement flanked by tall, monolithic stone buildings that fade into mist, while small clustered figures at the curb register human scale and quiet hardship.
As an early instance of documentary photography, Annan’s images helped establish photography as a means of social investigation and urban reform, changing how cities and their poor were seen and debated.
Medium
Photogravure
Dimensions
7 1/4 × 9 1/4" (18.5 × 23.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
308.1975.14
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
