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Jacob Riis (1849-1914). COM 241 Photography I. Documentary photos. Reflect a humanitarian point of view Usually focus on people Capture a way of life Realistic Meant to represent fact Accurate and truthful. Jacob Riis. (pronounced reese) “ America ’ s first photojournalist ”
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Jacob Riis (1849-1914) COM 241 Photography I
Documentary photos • Reflect a humanitarian point of view • Usually focus on people • Capture a way of life • Realistic • Meant to represent fact • Accurate and truthful
Jacob Riis • (pronounced reese) • “America’s first photojournalist” • Born in Denmark, immigrated to U.S. when he was 21 • Lived in one of police-run poor houses in NYC • Eventually got a job as a crime reporter for New York Tribune
Wrote a series of articles on living conditions on Lower East Side of NY • No one took seriously • Decided to document with photographs • One of first photographers to use flash
“How the Other Half Lives” in 1890 • As result of his photos, city closed police-run poor houses
Jacob Riis Bandit's Roost, 59 1/2 Mulberry Street c. 1888
Jacob Riis Mullen's Alley, Cherry Hill c. 1888
Old house on a Bleecker Street back lot, between Mercer and Greene Street
Typical tenement fire-escape serving as an extension of the flat: Allen Street
"Knee-pants" at forty-five cents a dozen--a Ludlow Street sweater's shop
Twelve-year-old boy (who had sworn he was sixteen) pulling threads in a sweat shop, about 1889
In poverty Gap, West 28 Street: an English coal-heaver's home
A flat in the pauper barracks, West 38 St., with all its furniture
A blind beggar stands in the middle of a street and begs for someone to buy one of his pencils.