David Muench

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David Muench is an American landscape and nature photographer, best known for his work portraying the American western landscape. He is the primary photographer for more than 50 books. Muench's work appears in countless magazines, posters and in private print collections.

Muench was born June 25, 1936 in Santa Barbara, California, the son of another famous landscape photographer, Josef Muench. The senior Muench was distinguished as one of the first photographers to have color photographs published by Arizona Highways magazine and was a mainstay of the publication for half a century. From Arizona Highway's web page [www.arizonahighways.com]: "The first color photo (of lower Oak Creek Canyon taken by Norman G. Wallace) appeared on the cover of the July 1938 issue."

A freelance photographer for more than 50 years, Muench's formal schooling includes the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, The University of California at Santa Barbara and the Art Center School of Design, Los Angeles, California.

In 1975, David Muench was commissioned to provide photographs for 33 large murals on the Lewis and Clark Expedition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, including 350 smaller eco photographs to accompany the murals. Hanging of this permanent large collection was completed in June, 1976.

Muench's son, Marc, is a successful photographer in his own right, specializing in landscape and outdoor action photography.