David Muench

Muench is the son of nature photographer Joseph Muench (born in Schweinfurt, Bavaria) who inspired him to become a nature photographer. Muench has two children. His son, Marc Muench, is a successful photographer in his own right, specializing in landscape and outdoor action photography. His daughter, Zandria, is a freelance photographer, specializing in animals, nature, and landscape. In 1997, the Muench family received NANPA's Lifetime Achievement in Nature Photography Award.

In 1975, Muench was commissioned by the National Park Service to photograph 33 large murals on the Lewis and Clark Expedition for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, including 350 smaller photographs to accompany the murals. In 2000, Muench received the National Parks Conservation Association's Robin W. Winks Award for Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks.

His first Arizona Highways cover was published in January 1955 at the age of 18, and he has continued to work with the magazine since then. In December 2015, to celebrate seven decades of collaboration, Arizona Highways dedicated an entire issue of the magazine to Muench, the first time they had done so for a single person.

David Muench (born June 25, 1936) is an American landscape and nature photographer known for portraying the American western landscape. He is the primary photographer for more than 60 books and his work appears in many magazines, posters, and private collections.

Muench was born on June 25, 1936 in Santa Barbara, California. A freelance photographer since the 1950s, his 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.