Widely regarded (and rightly so) as one of the most important photographers of the 20th Century, German photographer Thomas Struth is due to open his first UK retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery on the 6th July.
Spanning early black and white work to more recent colour prints, the exhibition promises a diverse and in-depth survey of the artists work – from quiet photographs of empty streets and colossal panoramas of space shuttle programmes to Struth’s iconic life-size museum prints depicting the gaze of a wondering public towards works of art and architecture.
The artist’s work often interweaves photographs of crowds and families with sterile and silent images of places devoid of human presence. At the heart of his practice is a preoccupation with aspects of psychology and culture found masked behind what theorist Joanna Lowry has coined the ‘Theatre of Modernity’.
Having seen only a small amount of Struth’s work in the gallery context at any given time, I am well aware that this really is the first opportunity to be able to see such a large collection of the artists work in the UK. Whether you enjoy the weighty presumptions of photorealism that this kind of work can invoke, or you simply appreciate visually arresting photographs, this is an exhibition I guarantee should not be missed.
Thomas Struth: Photographs 1978–2010 is on from 6 July - 16 September 2011 at the Whitechapel Gallery.
From our Photography Editor
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