45
of photogravure he went to Vienna in 1883 with his son
so that James (J. Craig Annan) could learn the process
from its inventor Karl Klíč. Annan bought the rights of
that process for Britain.
Annan turned photographer from engraver and lithog-
rapher in 1855. That year he photographed the fi rst iron
transatlantic steamer under construction, the gigantic
‘Persia.’ Very likely this was a commission from its
creator Robert Napier.
Glasgow commissioned Annan to record two great
civic enterprises. It constructed a new water supply
which, daily, brought 50 million gallons from Loch
Katrine through 35 miles of pipes to the city. This
splendid piece of Victorian engineering is contained
in the album Views on the Line of Loch Katrine Water
Works, 1859 and Glasgow Corporation Water Works:
Photographic Views of Loch Katrine, 1889, a record of
sluices, salmon ladders, aqueducts, syphon piping, a
gauge basin, etc., ending with a photograph of the water
gushing in Kelvingrove Park from a fountain complete
with the Lady of the Lake on top.
Glasgow also embarked on the demolition of its
terrible slums. Unlike the crusading Jacob Riis in New
York 20 years later, Annan’s task was to record what
was destined to disappear. Working in feotid and disease
ridden conditions he produced the fi rst thorough—and
a most moving—account of the worst slums in Britain.
“Close, No. 157 Bridgegate” is of dirt, decaying stone,
grimy washing, the glint of effl uent, yet by Annan’s pho-
tography somehow made beautiful. The slum dwellers
sometimes appear. In “Close, No.46 Saltmarket” they
have been carefully assembled. At the centre is the fi gure
of a boy set in front of the dark rectangle of a door. His
stance, thin arms akimbo and surely not arranged by
anyone, shows he has some determination left. What
became of him?
Single prints of the slums were made. In 1871, the
fi rst edition, probably four sets of 31 albumen prints,
was titled Photographs of Streets, Closes, &c. Taken
1868–71. The second edition, 1877, probably 60 sets,
Photographs of Old Closes, Street, &c., Taken 1868–
1877 is of 40 carbon prints. The third edition, of 50Annon, Thomas. Close, No. 37
High Street.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los
Angeles © The J. Paul Getty
Museum.