One of the key elements for elucidating the neural underpinning of vision is determining the links between structure and function of the populations of neurons that make up the circuits—from retina to the higher levels of cortex. In visual cortex there has been a long history of seminal studies that have elucidated the connections between structure and function at a number of different levels. In our recent work we have employed a range of new approaches involving large-scale image processing and connectomics to further understand the links between thalamus and cortex in both non-human primates and humans. In addition, we have used functional categorization to study the laminar specificity of neural populations. Using these different approaches we are gaining a detailed understanding of the cortical circuits involved in processing visual information.