Last meals of death row inmates
In his "No Seconds" series, photographer Henry Hargreaves captures the haunting images of death row inmates' last meal requests. He believes food preferences speak volumes about a person's character and personality in any setting. Death row choices are an extremely powerful example of that theory.
Victor Feguer was put to death in Iowa by hanging at the age of 28. He was sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder. For his last meal, Feguer requested a single olive with the pit in it.
Of all his "No Seconds" photos, Hargreaves says this is his favorite.
"It's just such a polarizing image. We think about last meals, and is it something that's going to be totally gluttonous, and then he just has a single olive," Hargreaves says. "You know, it's so simple, beautiful and kind of final. It's like a full stop at the end of his life."
John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy was put to death in Illinois by lethal injection at the age of 52. He was sentenced to death for rape and 33 counts of murder. For his last meal, Gacy requested 12 fried shrimp, a bucket of original recipe KFC, french fries, and a pound of strawberries.
Prior to being convicted, Gacy managed three KFC restaurants.
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh, the American terrorist behind the Oklahoma City bombing, was put to death in Indiana by lethal injection at the age of 33. He was sentenced to death for 168 counts of murder.
For his last meal, McVeigh requested two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Ricky Ray Rector
was put to death in Arkansas by lethal injection at the age of 42. He was sentenced to death for two counts of murder.
For his last meal, Rector - mentally incapacitated during his time on death row, his defense team argued - requested steak, fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, and pecan pie. He left the pecan pie behind, though, telling a guard that he was "saving it for later."
Stephen Anderson
Stephen Anderson was put to death in California by lethal injection at the age of 49. He was sentenced to death for burglary, assault, seven counts of murder, and escaping from prison.
For his last meal, Anderson requested two grilled cheese sandwiches, a pint of cottage cheese, a hominy/corn mixture, peach pie, chocolate chip ice cream, and radishes.
Angel Nieves Diaz
Angel Nieves Diaz was put to death in Florida by lethal injection at the age of 55. He was sentenced to death for murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery.
Diaz declined a last meal, so he was served the regular prison meal, which he declined to eat as well.
Ronnie Lee Gardner
Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death in Utah by firing squad at the age of 49. He was sentenced to death for burglary, robbery, and two counts of murder.
For his last meal, Gardner requested steak, a lobster tail, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and to eat it all while watching the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, was put to death in Florida by electric chair at the age of 43. He was sentenced to death for rape, necrophilia, prison escape, and more than 35 counts of murder.
Bundy declined a special meal, so was given the traditional last meal: steak cooked medium-rare, eggs over easy, hash browns, toast with butter and jelly, milk, and juice.
Allen Lee "Tiny" Davis
Allen Lee "Tiny" Davis was put to death in Florida by electric chair at the age of 54. He was sentenced to death for robbery and three counts of murder.
For his last meal, Davis requested lobster tail, fried potatoes, half a pound of fried shrimp, six ounces of fried clams, half a loaf of garlic bread, and 32 ounces of A&W root beer.
Teresa Lewis
Teresa Lewis was put to death in Virginia by lethal injection at the age of 41. She was sentenced to death for murder, conspiracy, and robbery.
For her last meal, Lewis requested fried chicken, peas with butter, apple pie, and a Dr Pepper.
Sacco & Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were put to death in Massachusetts by electric chair at the ages of 36 and 39, respectively. They were sentenced to death on two counts of murder. For their last meals, Sacco and Vanzetti requested soup, tea, meat, and toast.
In 1977, the governor of Massachusetts issued a statement saying that they had been unfairly tried and convicted. The case has been open ever since.
Ronnie Threadgill
Ronnie Threadgill was put to death in Texas by lethal injection at the age of 40. He was sentenced to death for murder.
For his last meal, Threadgill requested baked chicken, mashed potatoes with country gravy, vegetables, sweet peas, bread, tea, water, and punch. However, Texas abolished last meal choice in 2011, so Threadgill was just given the same meal as everyone else in his unit.
Henry Hargreaves
"It's old. There have been many variations on the saying, 'Tell me what you eat, and I'll tell you who you are,'" says photographer Henry Hargreaves of the inspiration for his work with food. "You know, food just tells so much about a person."
Henry Hargreaves
Hargreaves got his start as bartender, working in an establishment where people ordered food at the bar in addition to drinks.
"The way that people ordered and interacted with their food, and you know modified it, and treated it... I felt like you could pretty much stereotype who they were without even really talking to them. Just from their orders. And, to me, that theme I thought could go so deep, and was just something that could be really interesting to represent visually. So, that's why I've brought it into my work."
Henry Hargreaves
Hargreaves was inspired to pursue his "No Seconds" series, when he read that Texas was ending its last meal tradition for inmates on death row.
"Apparently, someone ordered a meal and didn't eat it, so they decided they were going to take the right away from people to be able to get their last meal," Hargreaves explains. "When I read that, I kind of was like, 'Wow. I wonder what they actually order.'"
Henry Hargreaves
Hargreaves frequently works with food as a vehicle for humanizing subcultures that people generally view as extremely different than themselves. This photo, for example, is from his series, called "Ready For Dinner," about the subculture of Doomsday Preppers in the U.S.
With regards to his photos of last meals, Hargreaves says, "Look, I'm not trying to preach whether someone should agree or disagree with the death penalty. All I'm trying to do is open up the conversation about it... get people to empathize with the condemned men and woman as real people."
Henry Hargreaves
All of the photos in Hargreaves' "No Seconds" series are recreations of inmates' last meals, not the actual meals, and that's part of what intrigued him about the project.
"To me, what was interesting is that there's never actually been a real picture of a last meal. They've never published it. So, this was about recreating what I think the last meal may be like. You know, do they serve it on plastic plates or on china? Does the shift take pride in cooking this last meal for someone, or do they just slap it together with no love? It was a conversation with all those sorts of things as well."
