interview by SVEN SCHUMANN studio portrait in Berlin by MAXIME BALLESTEROS Thomas Struth studied painting under Gerhard Richter until he switched classes to become one of the very first students of Bernd and Hilla Becher’s famed photogra- phy school at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany. With his large-scale, highly constructed, and carefully framed photo series of deserted cityscapes, verdant jungles, families, and museum visitors, Struth quickly became one of the most sought-after fine art photographers of our time. In this conversation in his Berlin studio, he discusses the virtue of silence, the instability of memory, the curse of visibility, and how to view art. SVEN SCHUMANN — Art museums are a booming industry because of the growth in tourism. THOMAS STRUTH — The Museum of Modern Art has more visitors than ever. The Metropolitan Museum has millions of visitors every year. In the late ’80s the museum became…