Part 1 of the Legacy: Photography
One of the ways that Jacob Riis affected the lives of immigrants was through his photography. He "gave powerful impetus to progressive era social reform by using photography. " "The pictures exposed the slum life and factory conditions that industrial workers and their families endured." At this time pictures in newspapers were mostly drawings.
Riis taught himself photography and invented flash photography to capture pictures that were at night or very dark. Flash photography made it possible to see the details of the dark, over-crowded tenements, saloons, and slums. When he documented the flash pictures it brought light to the dark parts of the city which became a powerful tool for social reform. His detailed and disturbing pictures showed the public what the lower class was experiencing. He encouraged the middle class and upperclass to take an active role in shaping and changing their communities which significantly affected the immigrants and their living conditions.
Riis taught himself photography and invented flash photography to capture pictures that were at night or very dark. Flash photography made it possible to see the details of the dark, over-crowded tenements, saloons, and slums. When he documented the flash pictures it brought light to the dark parts of the city which became a powerful tool for social reform. His detailed and disturbing pictures showed the public what the lower class was experiencing. He encouraged the middle class and upperclass to take an active role in shaping and changing their communities which significantly affected the immigrants and their living conditions.
Photo Citations: Stamp, Jimmy. "Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed." Smithsonian. Smithsonian. 27 May 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Citations:
Citations:
- Perry, Elisabeth Israels., and Karen Manners. Smith. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era: A Student Companion. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.