Old Houses Corner of George Street and High Street

Art Historical Context

James Craig Annan's *Old Houses Corner of George Street and High Street* (1897) captures a poignant slice of late-19th-century Glasgow, showcasing the city's dense, weathered tenements at a bustling intersection. As plate 40 from the landmark book *The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow* (1900), this photogravure documents the vanishing world of Scotland's industrial heartland, where narrow "closes" (alleys) and crowded housing defined urban life amid rapid modernization. A master of photogravure—a meticulous intaglio printing process that blends photography's precision with the rich tones of etching—Annan elevated documentary images into fine art. Working in the Pictorialist tradition, he emphasized atmosphere and texture, rendering the aged stone facades and shadowed corners with velvety depth. This technique allowed for exquisite reproductions, making the series accessible while preserving subtle details like worn doorways and chimney stacks. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Photography and Media department, this 16.2 × 23 cm image (on larger 27.6 × 37.8 cm paper) holds cultural weight as a testament to Glasgow's social history. Commissioned originally to record slums before demolition, Annan's revival via photogravure in 1900 ensures these "old houses" endure, inviting us to reflect on urban transformation and the humanity in everyday architecture.

About the Artist

James Craig Annan · 1864–1946

James Craig Annan (1864–1946) was a Scottish photographer widely regarded as one of the leading figures in the Pictorialist movement that sought to establish photography as a legitimate fine art at the turn of the twentieth century. The son of the distinguished Glasgow photographer Thomas Annan, James Craig grew up immersed in the craft and business of photography, inheriting both his father's tec...