Chapter 8: The Mirror with a Memory Summary and Analysis

The authors return to the subject of visual documents in Chapter 8 with a discussion of photography. The title of the chapter makes reference to the photograph as a "mirror" that not only reflects the image of the photograph but also the intention of the photographer. As an example they use an author named Jacob Riis who published a book in the 1890s called "How the Other Half Lives," a study of the slum-like living conditions in New York City's lower east side.

Immigration surged in New York in the second half of the nineteenth century and Riis himself was an immigrant from Norway who came to America in search of better prospects. Like many other immigrants, he had difficulty finding work he eventually was reduced to begging for food. He had...