The dignity of ‘back row’ America: A conversation with photojournalist Chris Arnade

For the past seven years Chris Arnade has traveled around the United States photographing and interviewing residents of this country’s forgotten communities. These photographs and interviews eventually became Arnade’s debut book, the just-released “Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America.” On this episode, we interviewed Chris about what led him to give up his lucrative career on Wall Street to become a journalist, and what he’s gleaned from his experiences.

Chris Arnade is a freelance writer and photographer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and many other outlets. He earned a PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University and worked for twenty years as a trader at an elite Wall Street bank before leaving in 2012 to document addiction in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx.

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Related links:

“Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America”

Growing up in forgotten America

Chris Arnade on America’s forgotten communities