Robert McNeill
Make A Wish (Bronx Slave Market, 170th Street, New York)1938
gelatin silver print
8 x 10 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
The faded sign on the wall announces a film entitled “Make A Wish.” The title's irony was not lost on McNeill as he photographed these Depression-era workers on a Bronx street corner for Fortune magazine. They pass the time chatting and reading the newspaper as they wait at a location designated for recruiting domestic workers for daily assignments in well-to-do households.
