In the spring of 1977, Thomas Struth journeyed to London with photographer Axel Hütte for a two-month project centered on documenting the working-class neighborhood of Tower Hamlets in East London. They worked together on a research initiative that examined social housing in its urban setting. After working on this project, Struth received a scholarship from the Kunstakademie to spend six months in New York, where he worked in a studio at PS1 and received a modest grant.
Struth’s scholarship to New York marked a turning point in his career. While there, he created a series of black-and-white cityscapes that focused on the sweeping perspectives of Manhattan’s streets. By stripping away human presence, his photographs captured the stillness of the city and drew attention to the overlooked architectural details, much like the works of historic photographers such as Eugène Atget.

During this time, Struth immersed himself in photographing the streets of Manhattan and surrounding boroughs, capturing the diverse architectural facades of neighborhoods with a central perspective in each image. His work culminated in an exhibition titled Streets of New York City: Central Perspectives at PS1, featuring forty-five black-and-white photographs. The exhibition aimed to explore how the atmosphere of different urban areas could convey their unique character. Struth's questions about the responsibility of urban design and its effects on the city's atmosphere became central themes in his work.

Born in 1954 in West Germany, Struth's artistic development was shaped by his time studying under renowned artists Gerhard Richter and the Becher couple at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Richter's early photorealistic pieces and the Bechers' methodical approach to documenting industrial landscapes significantly influenced Struth's work.