Jacob August Riis was a photography from Denmark that emigrated to the United States in 1870. Working as a police reporter gave him the opportunity to see the poverty side of America, and everything the people went through. He decided to teach himself basic skill of photography to show the upper class how the poor people lived, in slums, crowded tenements, and unsanitary environment. Riis wrote a book called How the Other Half Lives, along with many more which were a success and instantly made a change.
Below are some images..
Homeless kids sleeping in the slums of New York.
An image of child labor, in unprotected attire and dangerous conditions.
For my first blog I decided to talk about Jacob Riis, because he is a very important photographer that through his images he made a major change in America. How I mentioned earlier he taught himself photography skills, with flash which had recently been invented at the time. He would wonder in the slums and took pictures of the daytime and night time. I think this is a subject that would interest everyone, because it proves what America went through in the early years. And also the terrible conditions that the underclass lived in. This also proves how much more of an impact an image can do, rather then text. According to biography.com, the upper-class did know about the conditions that the poor were going through, but it wasn’t much of an impact until Riis images went viral. His photography became so famous that was shown in newspapers, magazines, book, and thanks to him there was a change in the underclass life style.
The slums were overly crowded and full of violence and dangerous conditions.
Kids in unsanitary environment.
Sources:
- http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-riis
- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pioneering-social-reformer-jacob-riis-revealed-how-other-half-lives-america-180951546/?no-ist
- http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Jacob_August_Riis.aspx
By, Maricela Hernandez
COM250 PHOTO 
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