Photos: 20 years of Texas death-row portraits

The human faces of inhumanity

Convicted killer Henry Lee Lucas photographed while on death row in Huntsville, Texas, in May 1998. Known as the one-eyed drifter, and once considered among the nation’s most prolific serial killers, he was scheduled to be executed June 30. His sentence was later commuted and he died of heart failure while in prison on March 12, 2001. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

More people are executed in Texas than anywhere else in the developed world. Here, death row is more than a holding cell—it’s a culture. Inmates spend an average of fourteen years awaiting their sentence in Texas. Some are granted reprieve or clemency; most meet their fate via lethal injection before an audience of family, law enforcement, and media.

The Associated Press has been a familiar presence for death row inmates in Texas since at least the early 1980s. As the only non-local news organization with a guaranteed seat at every execution, the AP is granted special access to prisoners, and as a result the agency has accumulated an unusual set of portraits made shortly before inmates’ executions.

The portraits are uncanny for a wire service. Eerily intimate, carefully composed. There are echo’s of Robert Bergman or Bruce Gilden here. Inmates’ stoic expressions seem to demonstrate an understanding between subject and photographer—perhaps the result of previous acquaintance, or the fact these men in the final weeks of life are steeled to their fate. Most are photographed within of month of being put to death, in a visitation cage which has been their only direct link to the outside world for years. Many of them have no family to see them in their final days. For some, a reporter with a camera may be the last free person they meet.

“I don’t know what you’re going to be feeling tonight. I pray we’ll all meet in heaven.” —Cleve Foster

Johnny Johnson was condemned for the death of Leah Joette Smith. Records show he raped her repeatedly after beating her head against a concrete curb and stomping her face. Photographed on Jan. 28, 2009, put to death Feb. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike Graczyk)

Billy Galloway, 41, was condemned for the 1998 robbery-slaying of Army officer David Logie in Greenville, Texas. Evidence showed it was one of two murders he was involved in during a cross-country spree that began in South Dakota, moved through Kansas, and into Texas. Photographed on April 28, 2010, executed May 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Graczyk)

Richard Wayne Jones was convicted and sentenced to death for the February 1986 kidnapping and murder of Tammy Livingston in Hurst, Texas. Photographed on Aug. 2, 2000, executed Aug. 22, 2000 (AP Photo/Brett Coomer)

Calvin Burdine was on death row in 2000 for the 1984 murder of his roommate. His case was later retried and punishment reduced to multiple life sentences due to negligence on the part of his defense attorney. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Richard Williams was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1997 contract killing of wheelchair-bound Jeanette Williams (no relation) in Houston. His conspirators, who had taken out a life insurance policy on the victim, received life in prison. Photographed on Feb. 12, 2003, put to death Feb. 25, 2003. (AP Photo/Michael Stravado)

Former long-haul truck driver Orien Cecil Joiner faced lethal injection for the murder of two Lubbock waitresses, roommates Carol Huckabee, 26, and Eva Marie DeForest, 29, during a home invasion in 1986. Photographed on June 28, 2000, executed July 12, 2000. (AP Photo/Brett Coomer)

Harold Joe Lane was sentenced to death for the 1982 shooting death of 17-year-old Tammy Davis at a Dallas Winn-Dixie store during a botched robbery attempt. Photographed on Sept. 13, 1995, executed Oct. 5, 1995. (AP Photo/Brett Coomer)

Cleve Foster received three reprieves from the U.S. Supreme Court, including two in 2011 when he was within hours of being executed for the rape and murder of 28-year-old Nyanuer Pal near Fort Worth in 2000. Photographed on Aug. 29, 2012, put to death Sept. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Graczyk)

Adam Kelly Ward was convicted of the 2005 fatal shooting of code enforcement officer Michael Walker in Commerce, Texas during a trash dispute. Walker was taking pictures of hoarded rubbish inside and outside of Ward’s home. Photographed Feb. 10, 2016, executed March 22, 2016. (AP Photo/Michael Graczyk)