A photograph entitled 'High Street, from the Cross', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The Tontine Building with its fine clock tower is on the left on Trongate as the camera points uphill towards the cathedral. Although the Tontine Building no longer stands, the clock tower still exists.

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

The Tontine Building with its fine clock tower is on the left on Trongate as the camera points uphill towards the cathedral. Although the Tontine Building no longer stands, the clock tower still exists.

The High Street started at the east end of Glasgow where the majority of the city's slum housing was situated.

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.