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Artist Recreates, Photographs Death-Row Inmates' Final Meals

  Ever wonder what'd you choose for your last meal on earth? While that might have been the subject of some childhood banter, it's a real-life question. And Death Row inmates have a long, long time to ponder. Intrigued by the question, Brooklyn-based artist and chef Julia Ziegler-Haynes decided to re-create a series of asked-for meals chosen by Death Row prisoners in a series of understated yet unsettling snaps for her book Today's Special. Ziegler-Haynes was aesthetically inspired by food styling from the '70s, cheap restaurants, and cafeteria-quality fare. She sifted through hundreds of public records (information leading up to inmates' executions is posted online, too), found 24 compelling subjects, and re-created their last requests. The shots, depicted from the diner's vantage point, range from a black olive (a symbol of peace) to birthday cake and pizza. Without forgiving these convicts of their actions, Ziegler-Haynes begs us to take a a closer look at their psyches while providing an inside glimpse at the conflicting gesture of the last meal. "It's eerie to cook for someone who's dead, not to mention someone who's been put to death for killing another person," says Ziegler-Haynes. "I'm by no means excusing the deplorable acts that it took to land these men on Death Row—I'm merely taking a closer look at the human condition."

JAMES REXFORD POWELL

    October 1, 2002
One pot of coffee

KENNETH CHAD CHARMJune 5, 2003

Fried chicken, French fries, hot peppers, corn on the cob, ketchup and hot sauce.

JAMES WILLIE BROWN

November 4, 2003 
A foot long chili dog with everything, French fries, a dill pickle, strawberry ice cream and a 7Up.

LEWIS EUGENE GILBERT II

July 1, 2003
A half-gallon of vanilla ice cream, a box of Whoppers and a box of assorted ice cream cones.

HASTINGS ARTHUR WISE

November 4, 2005
A lobster tail, French fries, coleslaw, banana pudding and milk.

                                                 ROBERT DALE CONKLIN                                      July 12, 2005
       Filet mingnon wrapped in bacon, de-veined shrimp sauteed in garlic butter with lemon, a baked potato with butter, sour cream, chives, and real bacon bits, corn on the cob, aspara- gus with hollandaise sauce, French bread with butter, goat cheese, cantaloupe, apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream and an iced tea.