The conglomeration of slums in Manchester, for example, represented the filthy lifestyle workers lived on a daily basis. The middle class saw these dwellings as a collection of their “less fortunate neighbors” crumbling livelihoods (1593). The essence of …show more content…
Similar to Thomas Annan’s photographs, he identified these ‘closes’ as dark, narrow, and remorseful making his pictures come out in a low level condition (Plate 7). The low level conditions of its inhabitants depicted in his photography correlated to their numbness toward exploitation. As their pictures are being taken, they appear to have a dreary ambiance. Contrast to the lives of middle class citizens, workers are characterized to resemble emotionless beings captured in the shadows of the economy. The blurred figures in the background also symbolize the tarnished prosperity of the town and equate to the broken dreams of its residents. Innumerable cracks and corners of the alleyways easily confused visitors, and the “low angle of most shots emphasize the oppressive, grim nature of these dead end streets” (Plate 10). There are little to no adequate facilities to satisfy the daily needs of the working-class, yet the middle class did not seem to want to shoulder the burden of the deteriorating society next door to their …show more content…
His skill and patience allowed him to capture a massive consumption of reality (Plate 26). Depictions of one-foot wide walkways, jagged grounds, and barefoot children enhanced the unspeakable living conditions of the poor in the 1800s. According to Engel, five to twenty persons of both sexes slept, ate, and excreted in the lower lodging houses. He compared these homes to horse stables and implied one of common sense would not allow an animal to live in such obscenity. In addition, Annan’s negatives highlighted the poor infrastructure and cheap accommodation the overcrowded town of Manchester faced as the population grew exponentially and resources vastly diminished. In Plate 83, a tenement is held together by several pieces of struts showing that these people lacked the funds, the assets, and the sophistication middle and upper class citizens contained on their part of