Born in Ribe,Denmark on May 3, 1849 Jacob Riis was an immigrant from Denmark who wanted to be a carpenter when he arrived to the Unites States. After 5 days Riis had almost no money left and soon had nothing left of his money. Riis found a carpenter job at Brady's Bend Iron Works. After he stopped working there he started doing odd jobs farming and other things. Riis found a newspaper add looking for a weekly editor for the Brooklyn Newspaper. He got the job and that was how he became a Police a Reporter and took photos and wrote about the poverty in New York City and about all the people living in poverty.