A photograph entitled 'Close No. 37 High Street', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The photograph shows a close behind No. 37 High Street in Glasgow. People stand and watch as Annan takes the photograph.

A photograph entitled 'Close No. 37 High Street', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868.

The photograph shows a close behind No. 37 High Street in Glasgow. People stand and watch as Annan takes the photograph. However Annan was more interested in documenting the streets and closes of Glasgow than the people who inhabited them.

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.