Home of an Italian Ragpicker, Jersey Street, New York City

Jacob Riis was a pioneering figure in the use of photography as a tool for social reform. A police reporter, Riis was intimately familiar with crime and misery of the Lower East Side slum in New York City. To reveal these inhumane conditions to New York's leading citizens, Riis used a new technique-flash photography-to record the inhabitants of the slums at night. In this photograph, the harsh light created by the flash powder aggressively opens the darkness to expose a young immigrant mother holding her infant. Despite the meager shabbiness of the surroundings, there is a sense of order and purpose; tubs are stacked, mattresses are rolled, and a recently used dustpan sits nearby.