Last Suppers: James Reynolds’ Photographs of Death Row Inmates Final Meals

To create these photographs, Reynolds bought prison trays—replicas of the ones they actually use in maximum security prisons—off the internet and began staging these “Last Suppers.” In the interview that presents the slideshow, Reynolds said:

I saw a small list of what a few death row prisoners had chosen for their last meals before their deaths and I wondered what they would look like as a visual image. After all, these meals would be one of the last things these prisoners see before they die. At first I just wanted to see what these meals looked like on the iconic prison tray. I wanted to get the viewer to think, or have an opinion. I’d like to think that the photographs make them think, what thought that is, I am not sure, as I myself had more thoughts the more I looked at them. What would my last meal be? What kind of people were these prisoners? Why did they choose that particular meal? What crime did they commit?

More photos and complete interview at the link above.


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