The Last Meals Project

For the past five years, Brooklyn-based photographer Jonathon Kambouris has been working on The Last Meals Project, a photography series that pairs photos of death row inmates with the items that they requested as their last meal before execution. It's a dark, but somehow really interesting thing to scroll through.

Every prisoner waiting to be executed is granted a last meal. Prisoners waiting to die choose their last meal for different reasons. Some choose from past memories, while others feast on what they crave at the moment. Such fascinating details surrounding the final hours before being put to death are a matter of public record and are the inspiration for this series of photographs. Justice may not always be served because the innocent can be proved guilty and the guilty can be proved innocent. Choosing the last meal is a significant ritual because the accuracy and validity of this choice is the only answer one can ultimately accept. This series visually documents the face and last meal of a convicted killer and is without question, honest and true. This will be an on going project as executions continue to take place in the United States. The core of the issue lies not on the emotionally loaded (for or against) arguments, but to question, how is society really served by the death penalty?

The Last Meals Project

For the past five years, Brooklyn-based photographer Jonathon Kambouris has been working on The Last Meals Project, a photography series that pairs photos of death row inmates with the items that they requested as their last meal before execution. It's a dark, but somehow really interesting thing to scroll through.

Every prisoner waiting to be executed is granted a last meal. Prisoners waiting to die choose their last meal for different reasons. Some choose from past memories, while others feast on what they crave at the moment. Such fascinating details surrounding the final hours before being put to death are a matter of public record and are the inspiration for this series of photographs. Justice may not always be served because the innocent can be proved guilty and the guilty can be proved innocent. Choosing the last meal is a significant ritual because the accuracy and validity of this choice is the only answer one can ultimately accept. This series visually documents the face and last meal of a convicted killer and is without question, honest and true. This will be an on going project as executions continue to take place in the United States. The core of the issue lies not on the emotionally loaded (for or against) arguments, but to question, how is society really served by the death penalty?

Embroidered X-Rays by Matthew Cox

Philadelphia-based artist Matthew Cox swirls together contradictions in his latest series, Embroidered X-Rays. Weaving embroidery thread into plastic, skeletal slides, Cox’s collection provides an odd juxtaposition, both visually and conceptually, the vibrant colors and familiar characters setting a playful mood while the X-rays remain cold and clinical.

”Stitching has a nurturing aspect,” Cox has said of his work, “and acts as care giving or healing to the injured, a socially feminine sort of action, while the X-ray itself can be considered masculine and unemotional.” The intricately made collection not only includes original embroidered portraits, but pop-culture ones as well, with David Bowie, Snow White, and Miss Piggy grafted onto chest X-rays. Examine some of Cox’s most fascinating pieces after the jump.

Embroidered X-Rays by Matthew Cox

Philadelphia-based artist Matthew Cox swirls together contradictions in his latest series, Embroidered X-Rays. Weaving embroidery thread into plastic, skeletal slides, Cox’s collection provides an odd juxtaposition, both visually and conceptually, the vibrant colors and familiar characters setting a playful mood while the X-rays remain cold and clinical.

”Stitching has a nurturing aspect,” Cox has said of his work, “and acts as care giving or healing to the injured, a socially feminine sort of action, while the X-ray itself can be considered masculine and unemotional.” The intricately made collection not only includes original embroidered portraits, but pop-culture ones as well, with David Bowie, Snow White, and Miss Piggy grafted onto chest X-rays. Examine some of Cox’s most fascinating pieces after the jump.