BACKGROUND AND BIO: Born in Ribe, Denmark of May 1849, Jacob Riis would pave the way in journalistic photography in displaying the social problems of his age. With only $40 and a locket, he boarded a steamship and made his way to a new future. Emigrating to the United States in 1870 was challenging, but he would have no clue the impact that he would leave. Upon arrival, he conducted a series of odd jobs: bricklayer, ironworker, salesman, farmer. This would give Riis a unique perspective on America, as he would have experience and know the side of America that was forgotten by the upper class. Eventually, in 1873, he worked his way up to becoming a police reporter. In this job, it would helpfully enhance his photography skills, and allow him
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Not long after, Riis published How the Other Half Lives. This truthfully was an experience to remember for the naive reader. It presented the poverty in New York as statistics that were absolutely shocking. Juxtaposed to that, it contained drawings of the photos from Riis’s crusades of the worst slums of New York City. Having an impact like no other, Theodore Roosevelt (police commissioner at the time) was adamant on improving the quality of life in New York. Riis took Roosevelt around the city while touring the worst slums, and this would persuade Roosevelt to a reforming state of mind. Swaying him towards a government of the people. The rest is …show more content…
Within the world of photojournalism, he is truthfully a legend. Riis was one of the first to expose the ugly parts of the world through non-traditional means of spreading news, while being one of the first people to experiment with flash photography. Through the use of art in the media, he helped assisting the underclasses by bringing attention to their problems. A wave of sympathy overcame the world as scenes that vividly depicted decrepit conditions of immigrants in America. His life experience of emigrating from Denmark to America most likely played a part in his exposure of this rotten world. As an immigrant himself, Riis would definitely not stand for the unjust treatment of the immigrants, as he had been in a similar situation; strange new world, new customs, new ways of life. In his own words, Riis described why it was important to share these social problems, as “The world forgets easily, too easily, what it does not like to remember”(How the Other Half
Not long after, Riis published How the Other Half Lives. This truthfully was an experience to remember for the naive reader. It presented the poverty in New York as statistics that were absolutely shocking. Juxtaposed to that, it contained drawings of the photos from Riis’s crusades of the worst slums of New York City. Having an impact like no other, Theodore Roosevelt (police commissioner at the time) was adamant on improving the quality of life in New York. Riis took Roosevelt around the city while touring the worst slums, and this would persuade Roosevelt to a reforming state of mind. Swaying him towards a government of the people. The rest is …show more content…
Within the world of photojournalism, he is truthfully a legend. Riis was one of the first to expose the ugly parts of the world through non-traditional means of spreading news, while being one of the first people to experiment with flash photography. Through the use of art in the media, he helped assisting the underclasses by bringing attention to their problems. A wave of sympathy overcame the world as scenes that vividly depicted decrepit conditions of immigrants in America. His life experience of emigrating from Denmark to America most likely played a part in his exposure of this rotten world. As an immigrant himself, Riis would definitely not stand for the unjust treatment of the immigrants, as he had been in a similar situation; strange new world, new customs, new ways of life. In his own words, Riis described why it was important to share these social problems, as “The world forgets easily, too easily, what it does not like to remember”(How the Other Half