Jacob riis photographer biography video

(1849-1914)

Who Was Jacob Riis?

Jacob Riis immigrated to the United States in 1870. After a series of odd jobs, he became a police reporter, a job he enhanced with his natural photographic skills.

Led by his interest in New York City's tenement life and the harsh conditions people living there endured, he used his camera as a tool to bring about change.

Jacob riis photographer biography video

With his 1890 book How the Other Half Lives, Riis put those living conditions on display in a package that wasn't to be ignored, and his career as a social reformer was launched.

Early Years

Jacob August Riis was born on May 3, 1849, in Ribe, Denmark, and immigrated to the United States in 1870 on a steamship.

All he carried with him was $40 and a locket containing a hair from a girl he loved. Upon his arrival in New York City, Riis struggled his way through various jobs — ironworker, farmer, bricklayer, salesman — all jobs that gave him an up-close look at the less prosperous side of the American urban environm