David Arky is not just an artist for art’s sake. To David, photography is a calling, but also a business, in which the final image is designed to achieve an end. So he’s well known not only for how striking and innovative his still life, conceptual and x-ray photography is, but also for his understanding of how the images will be used. It’s what makes him an ideal fit for advertising and editorial clients as varied as AT&T and AARP, Fresca and Forbes.
Since his start, he’s seen photography as a kind of visual language, crafted in specific ways to solve specific challenges. His process, too, combines instinctive artistry with rigorous methodology: visualizing a solution, then physically applying ink to paper—in as many forms and as many times as it takes—to spark the solution.
Having studied photography at the Art Center College of Design and Rochester Institute of Technology, he now shares his passion with students at the International Center for Photography, where he has taught since 2001. When not working, he finds other inspiration in Brooklyn, from his wife and two kids.
Clients
AARP
AT&T
American Express
Amgen
Backpacker
Bank of New York
Bristol Meyers Squibb
Coach USA
Comcast
Edelman Group
Eli Lily & Company
Fast Company
Firstborn
Forbes
Fortune Magazine
Fresca
Georgia Power
Hewlett/Packard
IBM
Illy USA
Inc. Magazine
Johnson & Johnson
Levi Strauss
Ladies Home Journal
Martha Stewart Living
Men's Health
Microsoft
New Balance
Newsweek
New York Times Magazine
New You
Outdoor Life
Outside Magazine
Oprah
Pentagram
Popular Mechanics
Popular Science
Prevention
Psychology Today
Richards Group
Road & Track
Samsung
Self Magazine
Shape / Fitness
Ski Magazine
Smithsonian
Starwood Hotels
Technology Review
The Good Life
Time Magazine
The Washington Post
UPS
US News & World Report
Vanguard Financial
Verizon
WiredUK
Women's Health