Announcing the David Muench Photography records

Cline Library Special Collections and Archives (SCA) on the campus of Northern Arizona University is thrilled to announce the arrival of the David Muench archive. David Muench is one of the preeminent 20^th and 21^st century American landscape photographers, and his collection represents over 70 years of landscape photography from around the world. David made millions of photographs during his career and today, continues to make photographs. He is an influential innovator of landscape photography; his eye and instincts have resulted in some of the most remarkable photographs of both iconic locations and those known only to a few. The gift of David’s collection significantly expands and raises awareness of SCA’s visual material holdings and complements several other remarkable 20^th and 21^st century American landscape photography collections in the department’s holdings.

 

David’s photography career begins in the Sierras, and as a child on pack trips with his parents, Josef Muench and Joyce Rockwood. He made his first photographs as a teenager in the late 1950s. Muench’s first published photographs were featured as front and back covers of Arizona Highways when Raymond Carlson was editor, and I Muench was still in high school. There was never any question of his career path. David’s education in photography and in art — both at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, and the Los Angeles Art Center School of Design — provided him with the formality of a degree in photography, and an understanding of the technology of the time, but he feels that his most profound learning experiences were in the field.   Nature remains his teacher. [Condensed and modified from DavidMuenchPhotography.com]

 

 

Though Muench was born in California and now calls Montana home, he has photographed northern Arizona extensively, from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top of the San Francisco Peaks, which hold a special place in his heart. David said he comes to the San Francisco Peaks to balance and center himself. He feels a spiritual connection to the Peaks. Having his archival legacy situated in one of his favorite locations is fitting.

Cline Library Special Collections and Archives is diligently working to preserve, organize, describe, and make available David’s archival legacy. Given the extent and scope of the collection, it will require significant time and effort before it is available for use. Currently (September, 2022), the collection is not ready for use. As our archival team performs the work necessary to provide efficient access to David’s photographs, please consult this page for updates and news related to David Muench’s archival legacy or email Special.collections@nau.edu.