David Muench

David Muench has photographed the landscape in all its grandeur for half a century.  Traveling the U.S. since early childhood with his father, renown photographer Josef Muench, there was never another way of life for him.  His 4 x 5 large format camera is as much a part of him as his innovative eye.  He has lately been experimenting with digital cameras as a result of his work photographing World Heritage Sites for UNESCO and Panasonic.  For him, every photograph is a journey in perception, an exploration in seeing.

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.”

Long intimate with America’s wild places, in recent years Muench has expanded outward across the globe, photographing in Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Japan, Morocco, South Africa, the Galapagos, Patagonia, Russia, Belarus.  “I am inspired by  the power and beauty of the primal landscape,” Muench says.  “In the unending experience it offers of light, space and time, I engage in my equally unending search for sublime beauty.”  

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.

Most recent books by Graphic Arts Publishing;

ARIZONA, OUR NATIONAL PARKS, WINDSTONE, PRIMAL FORCES, PLATEAU LIGHT.

Most recent books by Arizona Highways;

VAST AND INTIMATE, DAVID MUENCH’S ARIZONA, ETERNAL DESERT.

Marc Muench

Marc Muench has been a professional landscape and sports photographer for over 20 years. After completing his studies at Pasadena Art Center College of Design in the spring of 1989, Marc immediately began photographing for book publishers such as Graphic Arts Center, Browntrout Publishing and Time Inc.  Soon after, Marc represented Canon Camera in several ad campaigns, as well as appearing on “Canon Photo Safari” which aired on ESPN outdoor block, for eight straight seasons.

Marc has worked with such companies as Leo Burnett, IMI, Kodak, Grey Advertising, Ogilvy and Mather, McCann Erickson, Karsh and Hagan, Hakuhodo Inc., Hallmark, Time-Life, Reader's Digest and The National Geographic on various projects.

Marc was designated by Kodak in 2003 as a Kodak Photo Icon. Marc's photography has appeared on covers or inside Time, National Geographic, Traveler, Arizona Highways, Ski, Skiing, Sunset, Outside, Sierra Magazine, etc. His work also appears in books, calendars, note cards, postcards, posters and annual reports.

Marc is now the "artist in residence" at dgrin.com for Smugmug, where he contributes on a regular basis to the "Muench University" critique thread. He is currently the photo editor of the National Parks guide, published by The American Park Network, which contain many of his images taken throughout the United States National Park system.

Marc recently completed a year long video project on Catalina Island for the Catalina Island Conservancy. The five minute video highlights the new Trans Catalina Trail, capturing dynamic landscapes, wildlife and of course the hikers exploring their way across the Island.

Capturing powerful experiences in a still image carries many difficulties. Combining my experience with the drama of nature and the art of creating images keeps me motivated. With no control over weather, light or geography a photographer must study the subject/landscape and place himself in the most unique position as to arrange all the variables in what will become an interesting composition. There are those serendipitous moments when all the elements of a great image fall into place. When I am surrounded with scenarios of light, subject, location, weather and timing, I compose images that remind me what is possible if I’m diligent about perusing them. I am a very blessed person to have experienced so much of life thus far, through the pursuit of photography.

Marc was born on October 14, 1966 in Santa Barbara, California, where he now resides with his wife, Stefanie and their three children.

Published book titles:

SANTA BARBARA, ©2004

MISSION SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, ©2002
SKI THE ROCKIES, ©1994
Marc and David Muench book titles:
AMERICAN PORTFOLIOS, ©1994
THE ROCKIES, ©1997
CALIFORNIA, ©1999
PRIMAL FORCES, ©2000
COLORADO, ©2001
CANTICLE OF THE EARTH, ©2002

Bonnie Muench

To paint and photograph has been a life-long endeavor for me. Whether drawing or taking pictures in the Sierras, Escalante or Africa I am at home in my search for the patterns of life. Though sometimes abstract or realistic I bring my vision into the location. By drawing a black line on white paper I begin my personal process of relating sky to earth and idea to image. Photographing helps me focus on external relationships and events. Combining these two creative processes helps me capture the essence. Fine art portfolio