At the beginning of the 21^st century, approximately at the same time as the artist began to explore the intimacy of anonymous couples who became the subjects of his series Lovers, Nicholas Nixon returned to the city rooftops to photograph a number of views that would become updated versions of those he had captured in the 1970s.

With a career now spanning over five decades, Nixon continued to experiment with new visual and expressive possibilities. The first group of images within City Views, the series to which View of Christian Science Center belongs, was produced utilizing his usual 8-x-10-inch view camera. From the 8 x 10 inch negatives he made 20 x 24 inch prints. When observing the results of this new format, Nixon decided to produce a second group of photographs with an even larger camera, an 11 x 14 inch device that allowed him to capture more detail than visible at first glance. According to the photographer himself, the purpose of this technical and formal strategy is to generate a flattening effect combined with the appearance of overlapping planes, as if the image were a Persian miniature, or a map. Thus, the shapes of the city— what is new and what is old—seem to intertwine in strange coexistence.