A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 139 Saltmarket', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868. The photograph shows a close behind number 139 Saltmarket Street in Glasgow. Some of the windows on the left have been partially boarded up.

A photograph entitled 'Close, No. 139 Saltmarket', taken by Thomas Annan in 1868.

The photograph shows a close behind number 139 Saltmarket Street in Glasgow. Some of the windows on the left have been partially boarded up. 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.