In 1998, American sculptor Richard Serra had an exhibition of his Torqued Ellipse sculptures at the Geffen Contemporary Museum of Art in Los Angeles. Roth received an assignment from The New York Times to photograph Richard Serra's first viewing of the steel plates that form his sculptures, on the dock in San Pedro. Roth was so taken by the sculptures and the process of their installation at the museum, that she asked, and received permission, to document the entire installation for the subsequent three months.