Thomas Struth: 1977-2002

Photographer Thomas Struth (b. 1954), one of the most intriguing, challenging, and gifted artists to emerge from Europe in the past two decades, has created a beautiful and distinctive body of images depicting the world - its buildings, people, society, and culture - in its present moment of perpetual change. Unlike many of his contemporaries who have investigated photography's fictional potential, Struth has adhered to a straightforward yet formally refined approach that makes his viewers become aware of their world in often entirely new ways.
This catalogue is the first to encompass Struth's entire body of work, dating from the late 1970's to the early 2000's. His early black-and-white photographs of deserted city streets, his psychologically penetrating portraits of individuals and families, his renowned "museum pictures," and his large-format color landscapes of nature and industry from around the globe are all represented in this unsurpassed collection of images. Engaging essays by well known photography and art experts chronicle Thomas Struth's career: Charles Wylie examines the development of Struth's art and places him in the context of photographic history of the last century; Maria Morris Hambourg and Douglas Eklund review the artist's aesthetic and intellectual influences and maturation; and Ann Goldstein investigates the role portraiture has played in Struth's art. This survey attests to the unmistakable importance of his photographs and his valued place in the history of photography and contemporary art.