Photographs of Victorian Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow of today is a very different proposition from the Glasgow of the past. Today the Glasgow of the past is very difficult to imagine. But this book is designed to make us do exactly that. Glasgow Victoriana features the classic city photographs of Thomas Annan. The legacy of Thomas Annan is similar to that of Alexander Thomson. The brilliance of both their work is undeniable. In photographic circles Annan is one of the great urban photographers. His images of the city in the late 19th century are timeless. His work provides a unique insight into our city in a very different time. The book contains the best of Thomas Annan's photographs of Victorian Glasgow. During the Victorian period, Glasgow was an industrial and economic powerhouse: the Second City of Empire. However, while the elite made and spent vast fortunes, life for many Glaswegians meant poverty, disease and the most overcrowded slums in Europe. Nowhere in the Victorian world was the gulf between haves and have nots so pronounced. It is a stroke of historical fortune that Thomas Annan was on hand to record the very different aspects of life in Glasgow. For more than 30 years, Annan meticulously photographed rich and poor, the famous and the obscure, the mansion and the slum. Due to the brilliance of his work in Glasgow, he is now recognised as a master of the art of photography.
The book has an introduction and 4 main sections: The Old Closes and Streets of Glasgow: These photographs represent the first comprehensive view of slum life and are among the most poignant ever taken. Dating mostly from 1868, they include the High Street, Gallowgate, Saltmarket, Trongate and Gorbals. Glasgow Streets and Buildings: A fascinating selection, with photographs of George Square, Glasgow Bridge and the Harbour, Glasgow Cathedral, Kelvingrove Park, Buchanan Street and Great Western Road, as well as a number of elegant public buildings and mansions. The Old Buildings of Glasgow University: A fine photographic record of the old Glasgow University in High Street. These magnificent buildings were demolished when the University moved to the West end of the city.
Annan at large: Some of Annan's best photography dealt with subjects outwith Glasgow, as this selection vividly illustrates. There are views of Dumbarton Castle, Arran, Millport, and his home village of Dairsie. Among other acclaimed photographs is a portrait of the great explorer, David Livingstone. Glasgow Victoriana: Classic Photographs by Thomas Annan
.All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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