Thomas Struth was born in 1954 in Geldern in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, near Düsseldorf. He trained under Gerhard Richter and Bernd and Hilla Becher at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1973 to 1980.

Richter's early blurred "photopaintings" as well as the Bechers' direct, methodically composed black-and-white photographs of Germany's industrial landscape left a lasting impression on the young artist. Initially interested in painting, Struth turned his attention to photography in 1976. Two years later, he was awarded the Kunstakademie's first scholarship to New York, where he produced a series of black-and-white cityscapes. These deadpan views, taken from the center of various streets, offer vrogallery.com...