People tend to take a morbid fascination in death-row inmates’ last meals.
In the wake of his execution on Tuesday morning, Ohio prisoner Clarence Carter’s final meal has gone viral. It’s appearing all over Facebook feeds, Twitter messages and blogs.
Mr. Carter, who was convicted of aggravated murder for the 1988 killing of a fellow jail inmate, could have had anything he wanted for his last meal. But according to The Daily Mail, he had the same dinner as the rest of the prisoners: tuna salad, oven brown potatoes, turnip greens, an orange and white bread.
Perhaps it’s the idea of being granted one final privilege that sparks people’s imaginations. (Imagine being able to indulge without consequence!) Or maybe it’s the notion of packing an entire lifetime of memories and experiences onto one single serving tray.
Either way, death-row meals seem to enthrall us. British photographer James Reynolds is well known for recreating and documenting death-row prisoners’ last meal requests in a series titled “Last Suppers.” Although he provides no accompanying information to each of his photographs, the food itself offers a glimpse about the individual who requested it. One photo, for instance, shows an orange plastic tray of fried chicken, French fries, baked beans and chocolate milk. Another shows a tray bearing two bottles of Coca-Cola, a whole, raw onion, and a pack of Extra-brand chewing gum. Yet another shows six whole eggs, a hamburger and a take-out coffee cup.
Also exploring the notion of death-row meals, U.S. photographer Melanie Dunea asked famous chefs to imagine their last meal in her coffee-table books My Last Supper and My Last Supper: The Next Course. (The latter is scheduled for release this fall.) As Ms. Dunea notes, chefs have been playing the “what’s-your-death-row-meal” game among themselves for decades.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1983768/
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