Jacob-Riis was an inspiration to Jane Addams in many ways.
Jacob Riis was moved by what he witnessed in a neighborhood, and he taught himself the basics of photography and started carrying a camera with him when he stepped out into the streets at night. In a stroke of good timing, flash photography had recently been invented, and Jacob Riis became a pioneer in its use, enrolling the new technique to detain distinct indoor and outdoor night scenes. The pictures he displayed to the public were full of congested tenements, dangerous slums and a pathetic street scene—images of a oppressed underclass that most people had only previously read about, at the most.
Jacobs’ work led to a friendship with police commissioner and future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to Riis as "the best American I ever knew" and said that Riis, as photographer, had "the great gift of making others see what he saw and feel what he felt."
Jacobs’ work led to a friendship with police commissioner and future U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to Riis as "the best American I ever knew" and said that Riis, as photographer, had "the great gift of making others see what he saw and feel what he felt."
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