Image by krystianwin on Pixabay · Pixabay License
Jacob Riis
Sign in to saveAlso known as Jacob A. Riis, Jacob August Riis, Jacob August Riss
American photographer, journalist and activist (1849–1914)
OverviewAI-generated
Jacob August Riis was a Danish-American photographer, writer, journalist, and photojournalist. Born in Ribe in 1849, he held citizenship in the United States and the Danish Realm. He worked primarily in New York City for employers including the New-York Tribune and The Sun. His professional career spanned from 1863 to 1905, during which he focused on the reform movement and social documentary photography.
Riis wrote in English and is known for works such as *How the other half lives*, *The making of an American*, *Santa Claus Tales for Kids*, *Theodore Roosevelt*, and *Hero tales of the far North*. His photographs are held in the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Archives of his work are located at the New York Public Library Main Branch. He died in Barre in 1914.
Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1849
- Died
- 1914
- Works
- 49
Top works
- The making of an American
- Santa Claus Tales for Kids
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Hero tales of the far North
- How the other half lives
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- ( 1849-05-03 ) May 3, 1849, Ribe , Denmark
- Died
- May 26, 1914 (1914-05-26) (aged 65), Barre, Massachusetts , U.S.
- Occupations
- Photographer journalist activist
- Known for
- Social reform
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Jacob
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Danish Realm
- Place of birth
- Ribe
- Place of death
- Barre
- Occupation
- sociologist
- Employer
- The Sun
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Field of work
- portrait photography
- Image
- Jacob Riis 2.jpg
- Work location
- New York City
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Jacob Riis
- date of death
- 1914-05-26
- date of birth
- 1849-05-03
- Commons Creator page
- Jacob Riis
- Commons gallery
- Jacob Riis
- has works in the collection
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- writing language
- English language
- name in native language
- Jacob August Riis
- start of work period
- 1863-01-01
- end of work period
- 1905-01-01
- archives at
- New York Public Library Main Branch
Sources (9)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Jacob August Riis (/riːs/ REESS; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muck-raking" journalist, and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in the United States of America at the turn of the twentieth century. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography.
Riis endorsed the implementation of "model tenements" in New York with the help of humanitarian Lawrence Veiller. He was an early proponent of the newly practicable casual photography and one of the first to adopt photographic flash. While living in New York, Riis experienced poverty and became a police reporter writing about the quality of life in the slums. He attempted to alleviate the poor living conditions of poor people by exposing these conditions to the middle and upper classes.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jacob Riis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.