Close, No 122 Saltmarket

A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 122 Saltmarket', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The photograph shows a rundown close behind number 122 Saltmarket Street in Glasgow. Two figures can be seen in the background, one carrying a brick hod.

A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 122 Saltmarket', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868.

The photograph shows a rundown close behind number 122 Saltmarket Street in Glasgow. Two figures can be seen in the background, one carrying a brick hod. Saltmarket Street crosses the High Street, which started at the east end of Glasgow where the majority of the city's slum housing was located.

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.