John Annan was the elder son of celebrated Glasgow photographer Thomas Annan. Following Thomas Annan’s death in 1887 the family firm continued, with John Annan taking over the architectural photography side of the business and his brother James Craig Annan specialising in portraits. This photograph of a graving dock in Glasgow harbour was taken at the end of the nineteenth century, when Glasgow was a focal point for world trade and considered the second city of the British Empire. It is both a documentary record of the docks on the River Clyde and a celebration of the city’s pride in its world-renowned ship-building.