Jacob riis subjects

1890 photojournalism book by Jacob Riis

For other uses, see How the Other Half Lives (disambiguation).

How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York (1890) is an early publication of photojournalism by Jacob Riis, documenting squalid living conditions in New York Cityslums in the 1880s. The photographs served as a basis for future "muckraking" journalism by exposing the slums to New York City's upper and middle classes. They inspired many reforms of working-class housing, both immediately after publication as well as making a lasting impact in today's society.

Background

19th century, New York City

In the 1880s many people in upper- and middle-class society were unaware of the dangerous conditions in the slums among poor immigrants. After the Civil War, the country transformed into an industrial superpower and became largely urban.^[1] Simultaneously, a wave of unskilled southern European, eastern Jacob riis.