Thomas Annan

Other: T. &. R. Annan & Sons

Born: 1829 - Scotland, Fife, Dairsie
Died: 1887
Gender: Male
Active: Scotland
 
Scottish photographer who utilized many photographic processes throughout his career. He made portrait and architectural photographs with equal ability, but is primarily remembered for his shots of the alleys and tenement buildings of Glasgow. "The Old Closes & Streets of Glasgow", a classic of documentary photography, has gone through multiple editions in albumen print, carbon print and photogravure portfolio, and book forms, but it is interesting to note that his British Journal of Photography (December 23, 1887) obituary did not mention the series. The obituary concentrated on his landscapes and reproductions of paintings which are now largely forgotten.
 
He was the father of J. Craig Annan, also a noted photographer.
 

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At 16, Annan started an apprenticeship as a lithographic engraver in Cupar, Fife. Four years later he went to work for a printer in Glasgow. Recognising the potential of the new art of photography, in 1855 he formed a calotype partnership with George Berwick, a chemist. By 1857, he had his own studio in Sauchiehall Street. He exhibited portraits, photos of paintings and country houses at the 1858 Photographic Society of Scotland Exhibition. In 1859, he photographed the construction of the water supply from Loch Katrine. Today, he is best known for his 1868-1871 work on behalf of the Glasgow City Improvement Trust, documenting the Glasgow slums prior to urban renewal.
 
In 1869, when D.O. Hill moved out, he leased Rock House in Edinburgh and based himself there for at least two years. Annan's son, James Craig, later republished Hill & Adamson's calotypes as photogravures.
 
Annan's stereoviews are rare.
 
Biography taken, with permission, from: Peter Blair, 2018, Scotland in 3D, (P3DB Publishing)