07/05/2017 HowtheOtherHalfLives:PhotographsofNYC'sUnderbellyinthe1890s

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How the Other Half Lives:

Photographs of NYCs Underbelly
in the 1890s
JUN 16, 2013 DL CADE

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Jacob A. Riis arrived in New York in 1870. As the economy slowed, the Danish American
photographer found himself among the many other immigrants in the area whose daily
life consisted of joblessness, hunger, homelessness, and thoughts of suicide. So when
he nally found work as a police reporter in 1877, he made it his mission to reveal the
crime and poverty of New York Citys East Side slum district to the world.

The resulting book, How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New
York, was published in 1890, and is still considered a landmark in the annals of social
reform. Filled with pictures, sketches and graphic descriptions of the un-imaginable
living conditions he found, the book forced the topic of tenement reform to the forefront
of every New Yorkers attention.

The photograph above is titled Bandits Roost, and shows 59 Mulberry Street
(Mulberry Bend) in New York City an area that was considered the most crime-ridden
and dangerous part of the entire city.

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Riis pulled no punches. Indignant, pedantic, and at times racist (some believe he was
simply playing on the biases of his target audience) his sometimes hard-to-swallow
descriptions of the residents of the tenement district are paired with equally hard-to-
swallow photography:

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Riis and photographers he worked with were among the rst Americans to incorporate
ash photography into their work. Many of their nighttime photos were captured by
removing the lens cap (thus beginning the exposure), igniting a batch of ash powder,
and then putting the lens cap back on the camera.

Said to be inspired by Dickens and his writing about Londons poor, Riis work had a
profound eect on the lives of those he photographed. A photojournalist who had
himself lived in these condition, his book was the agent of social change that New York
needed at the time.

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Not to say that Riis was a saint. He separated the impoverished into two categories:
those deserving of assistance and everyone else. He also never outright called for any
government intervention, even though it came anyway. What most people seem to agree
on is that his photojournalistic work was based on a genuine, heartfelt sympathy for
those people whose lives he documented and helped to improve.

If youd like to read How the Other Half Lives yourself, you can nd it in text and audio
formats here and here, respectively. And if youd like to see a large collection of Jacob
Riis photography in one place, you can do so at the Museum Syndicate website here.

(via Boing Boing)

Image credits: Photographs by Jacob A. Riis

TAG S: D O C UME N TA RY, D O C UME N TA RY P H OTO G R A PHY, H I STORY, H OW THE OT H E R H A L F L I V E S, J ACOBA R I I S, J ACOBR I I S, N E W YOR K,
N E W YOR KC I T Y, P H OTOJ O U R N A L I S M, P OV ERT Y, R I I S, S LU MS, S Q UALO R, T H E OTH E R H A L F

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Jointhediscussion

PeterF4yearsago
ThankyouforintroducingRiis,ofwhoseworkIwasignorantlyunaware.Agreatpostandtimely
antidoteforcrassweddingphotosfeaturingdinosaursetc.
23 Reply Share

PHZ4yearsago
LooksliketheslumsinIndianow
1 Reply Share

vale10054yearsago
Wow!Iwascaptivedbyeachimage,tryingtograsptheplightoftheseNYCEastsidersthe
photosportrayed.
5 Reply Share

Sonny4yearsago
Sotherewerepoorpeopleinthe1800'stoo???Wait,there'sadifferencebetweennowandthen.
Thesewereethnicpeopleleavingsomethingfarworsetogethere.Hmm,no,stilltruetoday.Wait.
Thepeopledidnottrashwhattheyhadandworkedbecausewelfarewasn't
established..............OK,nowwe'regettingsomewhere.
1 Reply Share

Mantis>Sonny4yearsago
Whatthehellareyouramblingaboutson?
10 Reply Share

JacksonCheese>Sonny4yearsago
https://petapixel.com/2013/06/16/howtheotherhalflivesphotographsofnycsunderbellyinthe1890s/ 13/23
07/05/2017 HowtheOtherHalfLives:PhotographsofNYC'sUnderbellyinthe1890s
JacksonCheese>Sonny4yearsago
Ihavenoideawhatyou'retryingtosay.

Areyousayingpoorpeoplearebetteroffnowbecauseofwelfare,orthesepeopleare
betteroffbecausetheydidn'thavewelfare?
3 Reply Share

heggmona>Sonny4yearsago
Asyoumaynotbeawareof,peoplefromEurope(andlaterAsia)emigratedtoNorth
America.Somesucceededingettingabetterlifewhilesomenevergotpastthe"bigcity"
anditsslums.Beingstuckintheslumwasn'tagoodthing.Forsome"oddreason"people
lessbetteroff/poorwillmostlyalwayssettleclosertopopulatedareas.

Riisewantedtoshowhowpeoplelivedinthesepartsandprovethatslumsinabigcity
wasn'thealthyforanyonelivinginthearea.Diseasesflourished.Andtheystilldoinsuch
cities.

Yourassumptionthattheyallleftsomethingfarworseisnotquitecorrect,butwillofcourse
varybetweencountries.Manywereyoungsons/daughtersoffarmers.Withouttheirown
land,butyetfoodontheirtableandfreshwater.
Reply Share

chrissysails4yearsago
thankyouforthearticle.riis'sbookisverydifficulttoobtain.itneedstobepublishedagain!
Reply Share

maggiemae6564yearsago
Thepicturesremindmeof1960elementaryschooldescriptionsofthelivingconditionsinRussia
asaresultofcommunism...........
Reply Share

knucklehead50ayearago
thismustbethatwhiteprivilegeiheardabout
1 Reply Share

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