Thomas Struth  (German, 1954) 

Thomas Struth (German, b.1954) is a preeminent contemporary photographer, known for his images of urban scenes, jungles, and portraits. Struth was born in Geldern, Germany, and studied painting and photography with artists including Gerhard Richter and Bernd Becher at the Düsseldorf School of Art from 1973 to 1980. Much of his early works are black and white photographs of urban scenes, particularly industrial spaces and deserted streets, which reflect the changing conditions of contemporary society in his observations of architecture and urban development. He later photographed specific cities, including the streets of New York, Tokyo, Berlin, and Chicago, in examinations of the relationships between people in urban spaces. His more recent works, often in color, include photographs of jungles, forests, and natural landscapes from around the world, rendered in meticulous detail. Additionally, Struth has created many engaging single and family portraits, and is known for his famous Museum series, photographing viewers worldwide as they look at works of art and architecture, in an examination of both the momentary and eternal in contemporary culture. Struth has had many solo exhibitions, including a major retrospective held at the Dallas Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.