Hell's Kitchen with Sebastopol c. 1890

"Hell's Kitchen with Sebastopol" is a photo by Jacob A. Riis, taken around 1890. This photo shows a densely populated New York City neighborhood, with dilapidated buildings and a wooden stairway leading down to a dirt-filled area. Riis, a social reformer and photographer, used his images to expose the harsh realities of poverty and urban squalor in late 19th century New York. This photo, like many of his others, is a poignant commentary on the living conditions of the working class. The image serves as a visual document of New York's rapidly changing urban landscape, highlighting the challenges of modernization and social inequality in the city.