Thomas Annan

The dark conditions of this close, or narrow alleyway closed at one end, required the most light-sensitive method possible—the wet collodion process. Carrying chemicals with him, Thomas Annan coated the glass negative with photo-sensitive materials on site, capturing the exposure while the plate was still wet and developing it immediately after.

Photography played an important role in the late-19th-century urban renewal plans of many European cities, where the wide-scale demolition of existing structures took place to accommodate new boulevards and buildings. Annan took the photograph as part of a project documenting the slums of Glasgow before their demolition by the Glasgow City Improvement Trust.