Intended for children, this book includes photos by jacob riis and lewis hine, illustrating text about the immigration experience from the perspective of those. Both riis and hine believed that if people could see the living conditions of the slums and the abuses of child labor, they would be motivated to take actions to improve those conditions and stop those abuses. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in new york city. Hine followed in the footsteps of documentary photographer jacob riis, who captured the squalid conditions of new yorks tenements in his 1890 masterpiece how the other half lives. While his father was a school teacher and an occasional writer, his mother worked as a homemaker.
Works of jacob riis ebook by jacob riis 1230000109297. The pictures appear to have been taken in broad daylight and the small subjects are obviously pretending to be asleep. When lewis hine started photographing children at work in 1908, child labour. Riiss most popular book is how the other half lives.
Riis as far as conveying the life of the tenements to the studentshare our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in a matter of giving an example of the work to be done. This is a book was written by jacob riis, who was a muckraking journalist. Riis began his career as a police reporter for the new york tribune. Through march 20, the museum of the city of new york is presenting jacob a. Jacob riis and alfred steiglitz, reveals hine as a selfconscious and tolerant. Riis 18491914 found success in america as a reporter for the new york tribune, first documenting crime and later turning his eye to housing reform. The republishing of the original book is admirable, but readers should not expect the quality found in books published fresh in this era because the publishing and photographic technology of the 1890s was a. The narrator and protagonist of the book, riis is a danish immigrant himselfthough we would never know that from simply reading how the other half lives. His book how the other half lives 1890 shocked readers with his descriptions of slum conditions in new york city, and it was an important predecessor to the muckraking journalism that gained popularity in the u. Riis neighborhood settlement records document the institution from its origins in the benevolent work of the kings daughters and jacob a. His thennovel idea of using photographs of the citys slums to illustrate the plight of impoverished residents established riis as forerunner of modern photojournalism.
The definitive study of the images made by a pioneer journalist and photographer who passionately advocated for americas urban poor danishborn jacob a. A dynamic table of contents allows you to jump directly to the work selected. A danish born journalist and photographer, who exposed the lives of individuals that lived in inhumane conditions, in tenements and new yorks slums with his photography. Through articles, books, photography, and lanternslide lectures, riis served as a mediator between workingclass, middleclass, and upperclass citizens. Jacob riis, an immigrant from denmark, became a journalist in new york city in the late 19th century and devoted himself to documenting the plight of working people and the very poor. Jacob riis 18491914 was a pioneering newspaper reporter and social reformer in new york at the turn of the twentieth century. First published in 1890, jacob riiss remarkable study of the horrendous living conditions of the poor in new york city had an immediate and extraordinary impact on society, inspiring reforms that affected the lives of millions of people. In their own way, each carries on jacob riis legacy. Background essay on jacob riis and lewis hine herb. It served as a basis for future muckraking journalism by exposing the slums to new york citys upper and middle class. Among the 15, only jacob, one sister, and the foster sister survived into the twentieth century. Jacob riis, 18491914, is another one of my favorite photographers. The radical images of lewis hine, documentary photographer. The author provides not only a physical description of the tenement buildings but delves deeper into the people who live there and why they dont leave the pits of filth and despair.
Their photos showed sideeffects of the industrial revolution. The character of jacob riis in how the other half lives. As a practitioner of palmistry, nellie simmons meier had a special interest in the hands of famous people. Jacob riis and the tenement population, nineteenthcentury contexts 24, no. For photography lovers or for those who are fond of photography. This short essay describes jacob riis and lewis hines, two important documentary photographers of the turn of the twentieth century. Jacob riis and lewis hine are two photographers mentioned in the article about comporate power that emilio gave us last thursday. A ten year war an account of the battle with the slum in new york children of the tenements hero tales of the far north. Jacob a riis, first edition abebooks passion for books.
San francisco, 16 january 2009 as the son of an african immigrant prepares to assume the highest office in the land, tom bukswientys portrait of muckraking journalist and reformer jacob riis is both instructive and inspiring. Two of the most talented early documentary photographers were jacob riis and lewis hine. Book by jacob riis which included many photos regarding the slums and the inhumane living conditions. His work, especially in his landmark 1890 book how the other half lives, had an enormous impact on american society. The work has drawn comparisons to that of jacob riis, the. Born in denmark but later immigrating to new york city, the vast majority of riis work was spent photographing and documenting the lives of poor immigrants in new yorks slums. Riis during the 1890s, to its activities a century later providing social services to residents of the queensbridge houses. The records offer a unique view of the first wave of the settlement house movement in america, and document social. Jacob riis wrote it for no other purpose than to call attention to the horrendous living conditions of the poor in new york city, and to insist on reform. Muckraker was a journalist who pushed for reform in publications that covered the issues of society for the middle and wealthy classes. Boston, july 19 illustrated with photographs by lewis hine. But whereas riis photographed his subjects as helpless victims, beaten down by an oppressive system, hine sought to present his subjects as people with pride and dignity, often tough and defiant, who held out hope for a better world. For many of the writers this is not their only book nor their most famous, but they are all tied in with the progressive era. Listed here are some of the many publications which include material.
They used the photography to dennounce the poverty that many people in the city were suffering and against the child labour. Meier wrote that jacob riis was able to present facts and details in an orderly manner of writing or speaking, thus giving a stirring word picture of the conditions which needed. How the other half lives by jacob riis january 19, 2015 patrick t reardon 0 the five blind men and women lived in the attic room in a rundown tenement in new york city in the late 1800s, and jacob a. How the other half lives was the book that invented investigative journalism, and pushed photo journalism into the main stream as well. Following in the footsteps of jacob riis, american photographer and sociologist lewis hine used his camera to spark social change. Studies among the tenements of new york, 1890, introduction, ch. Studies among the tenements of new york by jacob a. In the course of his work he observed the tenement neighborhoods of the lower eastside and became outraged at the living conditions endured by new york s immigrant poor. Jacob riis and lewis hine were among the first reformers to use photography to document the effects of industrialization and urbanization on workingclass americans. Jacob riis how the other half lives 1890 excerpts from the original electronic text available through the american studies department at yale university. Jacob a riis, first edition abebooks shop for books. Jacob a riis jacob august riis may 3, 1849 may 26, 1914 was a danish american social reformer, muckraking journalist and social documentary photographer.
For more than seventy years, penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the englishspeaking world. Pdf the origin of lewis hines invention of social documentary photography can be. The making of an american by jacob riis shop for books. How the other half lives jacob riis by jacob riis nook. Studies among the tenements of new york, and the battle with the slum, and more on. Both used photography to show sideeffects of the industrial revolutionconditions such as child labor, tenement life, and the plight of the immigrant. National child labor committee collection selected bibliography. As tenement living conditions became unbearable in the wake of massive immigration. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read how the other half lives. Riis, in his book, how the other half lives, vividly describes the human condition of the tenements of new york during the late 1800s. These included child labor, tenement life, and the miserable situation of immigrants. Lewis hine, early 20th century photography for social change. Jacob riis photographs still revealing new yorks other.
Jacob riis was born to niels edward riis and carolina riis in ribe denmark. In the late 1800s, new techniques made it possible to use photography to document social issues of the day. Jacob riis 18491914 was an american reporter, social reformer, and photographer. Two urban photographers, jacob riis and lewis hine, took up the effort to explore the. Studies among the tenements of new york 1890 was a pioneering work of photojournalism by jacob riis, documenting the squalid living conditions in new york city slums in the 1880s. As a work of muckraking journalism, how the other half lives exposed the horrid conditions of some of the poorest americans to the upper and middle classes. Inspired by early fine art photographers like alfred stieglitz, his images are a mix of artistry and photojournalism. Isbn 9780312478957 9780312478957 hardcover, bedfordst. Lewis hines and jacob riis for example, were well known progressive era photographers.
Before hine took his camera to ellis island to photograph immigrants who were just arriving. Background essay on jacob riis and lewis hine herb cuny. He was the third of the fifteen children born to the couple. Subject name date how the other half lives how the other half lives is a good piece of work by jacob a. Through his groundbreaking articles, lectures, books and most famously photographs, riis exposed the abysmal living conditions suffered by tens. Lewis hine and jacob riis the founding fathers of documentary photography in light of the discussion about the effect, motivations and portrayal of truth in documentary, hine and riis are two photographers stand out as fundamental documentary photographers. How the other half lives by photojournalist jacob riis is a study of the living conditions of the new york city slums of the 1880s. In fact, his work helped ensure american child labor laws were enacted in the early 20th century. History on the net authentic history 189819 progressivism riis illustrations how the other half lives, by jacob riis list of photographs and illustrations. Nellie simmons meier papers, manuscript division, library of congress 098. Jacob riis interest in the plight of marginalized citizens can also be seen as a forerunner of street photography. Riis neighborhood settlement records nypl archives. Riis did not limit such arrangements to the street toughs but posed more than a half a dozen images of young boys sleeping in stairwells and doorways.
Analysis of the book muckraker by jacob riis 867 words 4 pages. Paragraph numbers apply to this excerpt, not the original source. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Instead, although riis faced similarly precarious conditions as those of the new york tenement residents he portrays, he positions himself as a true that is, white, christian american like his imagined reader. Handprints and character analyses of celebrities formed the basis of her 1937 bestseller, lions paws. How the other half lives is one of those unusual books that changed history in a material way, directly affecting the lives of millions of people. The book is a tour that takes middleclass readers through back alleys. Jacob riis how the other half lives jacob riis photographs. Three urchins huddling for warmth in window well on nys lower east side, 1889 history of ny photography.
435 973 1495 1267 966 629 1522 1136 845 573 804 1221 664 129 772 819 221 933 555 1388 442 628 839 905 1470 1114 953 306 636 476 1291 194 963 1070 74