Ezra Stoller photographed some of the twentieth century's most iconic buildings, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building, Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, and Louis Kahn's Salk Institute. His pictures were recognized as fundamental contributions to architectural history in their own right. New York architect Philip Johnson once said that no modern building is complete until it has been "Stollerized," while critic Paul Goldberger wrote: "[Stoller's pictures] have in and of themselves played a major role in shaping the public's perception of what modern architecture is all about."

Stoller, a Chicago native and son of a union president in the garment industry, originally wanted to be an auto mechanic. A trade school course in mechanical drawing led him to study architecture at New York University, where he began his career by photographing buildings, models, and sculpture created by his fellow students. In 1940 Stoller worked with photographer Paul Strand. During World War II he taught photography at the Army Signal Corps Photo Center in New York City. Two decades later he founded Esto Photographics, an architectural photo agency now run by his daughter, Erica.