1. DAVID MUENCH
Landscape Photographer
 JEFRI SUTISNO / 13234 / ANN3A

2. NAME : David Muench
D.O.B. : June 25, 1936 in Santa
Barbara, California
He is an American landscape and nature
photographer known for portraying the
American western landscape.
He is the primary photographer for more
than 50 books and his work appears in many
magazines, posters, and private collections.

3. Specific information about the photographer’s style of
photography. Has their style (or subject matter) change over the
course of their career?
 He has lately been experimenting with digital cameras as a
result of his work photographing World Heritage Sites for
UNESCO and Panasonic. But his style of works remain constant
throughout the year.

4. Contribution to the field of
photography?
 Muench’s work has been exhibited in numerous museums and
galleries, including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and Mountain
Light Gallery in Bishop, California. A shared exhibit with Ansel Adams
and Jack Dykinga was mounted at the Phoenix Art Museum, The Center
for Creative Photography, and the Museum of Northern Arizona. He was
commissioned by the National Park Service to provide 33 photographic
murals presenting the landscapes of the Lewis and Clark
expedition. These are on permanent display at the Jefferson Expansion
Memorial under the Arch in St. Louis. Monumental in concept, the 15
foot tall panels extend more than 350 feet along their wall. His work also
hangs in numerous private collections. He has published over 50 exhibit
format books.

5. How has his/her work influence or make a positive
change?
 Inventor of original and oft-imitated approaches to the landscape, Muench brings
his own idea of geography into both his spectacular color and black and white
images. For him, the craft and the art of photography are paramount, yet nothing is
more important than presenting his beloved wilderness to viewers so that they might
be moved to act on its behalf. For him, all of nature is a context, each tiny element
of critical importance to the magnificence of the whole. It is this connectedness he
seeks, an idea he presents in the book, Plateau Light. “When photographing, I tune
in to the natural rhythms and pulse of the land . . . to communicate and champion
the stark beauty that is nature – its wildness, its opposites. . .” As James Lawrence
wrote in the text for Plateau Light, “Muench’s international reputation derives from
an unflinching embrace of nature’s nuances. He engages the primal landscape
across all the human fronts: as thinker, dreamer, seeker, lover, lifelong friend.”

6. How does he/she make a living? (assignment, stock
photo, prints, workshops, etc)
 In 1964 Muench made the commitment and started contributing
landscape shots to magazines, calendars, and books. At the time he
was one of few landscape photographers so he found himself in
demand for the type of work he produced.
 In 1975 Muench was commissioned to photograph 33 large murals and
350 smaller photos on the Lewis and Clark Expedition for the Jefferson
National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri. To date his photos
have been found in close to 100 books, posters, magazines and private
collections. One of the main reasons Muench continually
photographed nature is due to his true love of it and a desire to
introduce the beauty to the world so they will work to help save and
protect the beauty of the United States.

7. Any special techniques used ( like lighting, perspective, color, b/w, etc.)
 Much of David Muench’s photographs were taken with a
large format 4 x 5 camera, but has more recently added a
35 mm camera format to his equipment list. Part of the
beauty of his photographs come with time. He often has to
wait for hours for the light to be perfect in order for him to
produce the photo he desires. He hosts photo workshops
teaching aspiring nature photographers to see the world the
way he does, teaching them that often great photos will
take time.

8. How to distinguish his/her work from
others?
 Muench’s work has often been compared to that of Ansel Adams with one main
difference, his work is done in color. He utilizes light in such a way that it paints a
picture with the natural landscape. Much of the beauty of his work is based on the
fact that he pays close attention to detail, highlighting even small elements such as
the texture of stones. Muench accomplished most of his photos utilizing color slide
film, but has found over the years that slides often fade and the images do not
remain consistent over time. His predecessors, Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter, did their
work in black and white which lasted much longer. To help avoid this problem
Muench began to scan his images into his computer and restoring some of the
images that have faded over time. He is careful not to manipulate the results
beyond the original color and quality of the images he recorded. Muench has
stated, “It is important not to have the images disappear faster than the landscape
does.”

9. How do you respond to the photographer’s work?
What did you learn or look up to him/her as role
model?
 From my point of view, i find his style very unique – for
example the way he fills the frame completely with a
subject – his ability to make stunning photograph in
completely benign weather or the way he seems to
let the terra firma dictate the photograph and the
sky ends up wherever it ends up – you often see a
thin sliver of sky which is so close to the top of the
frame you would think it would make compositional
sense to crop out completely!

10.  1 & 2 images : I like this piece of work because the opening shot with the low sun and
large boulders is fantastic. Some of his photos appear to be too dark and the sun is shining
off the the canyons and it makes the entire canyon a bright orange color. He really pay
attention into the smallest details to make his photo looks perfect, such as the arrangement
that used to guide the viewers eye to the vocal point.
 3 image : On the 3rd picture He also used the same method, but for this one he pay
attention more on the flower and the cold mood. The end result makes the viewer feel that
he/she is belong there and they can feel the breeze just by looking at the picture.

11. 4 & 5 : Spectacular beauty of our natural
landscapes and created from the use of
silhoutte, object frame and arrangement
of the trees and mountain. Cool Mood
colour to envoke strong and steadfast or
light and friendly and sometimes calming
feeling

12. Thank You For Watching !!!!