Thomas Struth

Thomas Struth was born in Germany in 1954.  After studying painting under Peter Kleeman and Gerhard Richter, he switched mediums and began to study photography under Bernhard and Hilla Becher.  His early work, begun in 1978, consists mostly of black and white cityscapes which "offer vast perspectives punctuated by a seemingly endless rhythm of architectural facades" (Guggenheim Museum).  Struth shot these photographs and similar ones throughout Europe, America, and Tokyo. 

In the mid 1980s Struth started a series of color and black and white portraits of individuals and families.  This series grew out of Struth's belief that photography is "a tool of scientific origin for psychological exploration" (Guggenheim Museum).  This ongoing series explores how we are conditioned to see ourselves, and how our identities help to condition these perceptions.  The idea behind Struth's series of portraits carried over into his best known work, which are his Museum Photographs. 

 These large-format color prints capture both anonymous individuals and crowds as they gather to look at some of the western world's most famous works of art.  With this series of photos Struth "emphasizes museum-going as a complex social ritual of seeing and being seen, one in which the museum itself functions as both custodian and broker of cultural capital" (Guggenheim Museum).  

In the last 10 years Struth has also photographed natural landscapes, intimate nature studies, celebrated architectural monuments, and Chinese cityscapes.  Struth now lives and works in Dusseldorf, Germany.  

Images:

http://www.museumlab.org/wp-content/photos/Thomas_Struth_at_the_Prado.JPG

http://www.designboom.com/tools/WPro/images/blog19/ts2.jpg

http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_424713569_401810_thomas-struth.jpg

http://horsesthink.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/skyscrapers.jpg

Interview with Thomas Struth:

http://www.db-artmag.de/2003/10/e/2/87.php

Gallery representing Thomas Struth/artist's website:

http://www.thomasstruth.net/