The new American ghetto - Camilo Jos Vergara

Vergara has chronicled life in poor and minority communities across the
United States in the New York Times, Atlantic, the Nation, the Village
Voice, and other publications. Following in the footsteps of
19th-century urban reformer Jacob Riis, the author, through the power of
photography, reveals the destitution and vulgarities of urban decay.
Chicago; Newark, New Jersey; New York; Detroit; Los Angeles; and several
other cities are the backdrops for his 400 photographs. Vergara focuses
on the physical environment, showing the transformation of particular
sites over time. His tour of dilapidated neighborhoods and crumbling
downtowns is visually startling. Vergara lays bare the direction of a
new urbanness that strips the grandeur from its fabric and lays waste to
the cityscape, pointing out that while we have wasted cities, many of
the ruins are magnificent. An invaluable resource for urban studies and
architecture collections.