Prison Chess Photography
In 2008 and 2009, German photographer Oliver Fluck accompanied a Princeton chess club to the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where the students squared off against some of the facility’s inmates. Fluck trained his lens on the encounters, capturing a focused, contemplative side of the prisoners that perhaps few on the outside ever get a chance to see. The project, Fluck told LIFE.com, opened up his perspective, especially when talking to men who challenged his notions of what a criminal would be like. “The world is more than black and white,” he said. Above: Inmate Miguel Suarez is pictured.
