Synopses & Reviews
Danish-born Jacob A. Riis (1849andndash;1914) found success in America as a reporter for the
New York Tribune, first documenting crime and later turning his eye to housing reform. As tenement living conditions became unbearable in the wake of massive immigration, Riis and his camera captured some of the earliest, most powerful images of American urban poverty.
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This important publication is the first comprehensive study and complete catalogue of Riisandrsquo;s world-famous images, and places him at the forefront of early-20th-century social reform photography. It is the culmination of more than two decades of research on Riis, assembling materials from five repositories (the Riis Collection at the Museum of the City of New York, the Library of Congress, the New-York Historical Society, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of South Westand#160;Jutland, Denmark) as well as previously unpublished photographs and notes. In this handsome volume, Bonnie Yochelson proposes a novel thesisandmdash;that Riis was a radical publicist who utilized photographs to enhance his arguments, but had no great skill or ambition as a photographer. She also provides important context for understanding how Riisandrsquo;s work would be viewed in turn-of-the-century New York, whether presented in lantern slide lectures or newspapers.
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Synopsis
The definitive study of the images made by a pioneer journalist and photographer who passionately advocated for Americaandrsquo;s urban poor.
Synopsis
The definitive study of the images made by a pioneer journalist and photographer who passionately advocated for America s urban poor
Danish-born Jacob A. Riis (1849 1914) found success in America as a reporter for the New York Tribune, first documenting crime and later turning his eye to housing reform. As tenement living conditions became unbearable in the wake of massive immigration, Riis and his camera captured some of the earliest, most powerful images of American urban poverty.
This important publication is the first comprehensive study and complete catalogue of Riis s world-famous images, and places him at the forefront of early-20th-century social reform photography. It is the culmination of more than two decades of research on Riis, assembling materials from five repositories (the Riis Collection at the Museum of the City of New York, the Library of Congress, the New-York Historical Society, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of South WestJutland, Denmark) as well as previously unpublished photographs and notes. In this handsome volume, Bonnie Yochelson proposes a novel thesis that Riis was a radical publicist who utilized photographs to enhance his arguments, but had no great skill or ambition as a photographer. She also provides important context for understanding how Riis s work would be viewed in turn-of-the-century New York, whether presented in lantern slide lectures or newspapers.
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About the Author
Bonnie Yochelson is former curator of prints and photographs at the Museum of the City of New York, and an art historian specializing in photography.