A photograph entitled 'Bell Street, from High Street', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The buildings of James Howie, Undertaker stands on the right of the junction. Many figures can be seen sitting and standing around the street corners.

A photograph entitled 'Bell Street, from High Street', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868.

The photograph shows Bell Street in Glasgow. The buildings of James Howie, Undertaker stands on the right of the junction. Many figures can be seen sitting and standing around the street corners. Some of them appear as faint, ghostly figures due to the long exposure time.

In 1868 the City of Glasgow Improvement Trust approached Thomas Annan to take photographs of some of the slum areas of the city prior to demolition. The resulting images are some of the earliest examples of documentary photography.