A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 29 Gallowgate', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The photograph shows the close behind No. 29 Gallowgate in Glasgow. People gather to watch the photographer take his photographs as children sit in a circle on the floor to play a game.

A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 29 Gallowgate', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868.

The photograph shows the close behind No. 29 Gallowgate in Glasgow. People gather to watch the photographer take his photographs as children sit in a circle on the floor to play a game. The bright sunshine illuminates what would normally be a dark and dirty passageway in the slums of Glasgow.

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.