This pioneering work of photojournalism by Jacob Riis focused on the plight of the poor in the Lower East Side, and greatly influenced future "muckraking" journalism. The original work featured fifteen halftone images and forty-three drawings based on photographs. Due to the recent invention of magnesium flash, Riis was able to venture into the dimly lit areas of tenements and document the wretched conditions in which the "other half" lived and worked. Later editions of his work were printed with photographs replacing most of the drawings, possible thanks to improved printing techniques. Riis's work was also pioneering in that he mostly attributed the plight of the poor to environmental conditions. However, his work was not without its flaws. He divided the poor into two categories: deserving of assistance (mostly women and children) and undeserving (mostly the unemployed and intractably criminal). He wrote with prejudice about Jews, Italians, and Irish, and he stopped short of