Jacob Riis

[Wirefox]

I have just been watching a documentary called Filthy Cities on BBC2. This week it was New York. One reformer and photographer, Jacob Riis,played a significant part in bringing the conditions of the slums and the corruption of the authorities to the attention of America in his book 'How the Other Half Lives' 1890. Real street photography.....

Slide show

Wikipedia Entry

(Scroll down to the section on Photography for a description of the processes used)

[Donald]

Real street photography.....

And how ........

Am in the middle of watching a programme(BBC4) of the work of movie director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia; Dr Zhivago; et al). Interesting stuff on how he constructed scenes and shots.

[Camellia]

Powerful images.

[rpcrowe]

Jacob Riis' photography brought an awareness of the horrific conditions of the New York City Slums to the general public and aided in the establishment of many ordinances which for a long while drastically improved the life of many poor city dwellers.

I have always been interested in the work of Riis since my grandparents, who were immigrants from Germany, and their children lived in the slums of the Lower East Side of New York City until they pulled themselves out of the slums by their bootstraps.

Riis' work is a great example of how the camera can be a tool of social awareness and change.

Unfortunately, things seem to have regressed and the slums of many portions of New York City seem equally as horrific and, are probably more dangerous, than they were at the turn of the 20th Century.