David Martin Heath (June 27, 1931 – June 27, 2016) was an American documentary, humanist and street photographer.[1][2]
Heath's books include A Dialogue with Solitude (1965). In 2015, a retrospective of his work was hosted by Philadelphia Museum of Art. His work is held in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Museum of Modern Art.
Heath was born in Philadelphia.[3] He was inspired by Life magazine, most notably the article "Bad Boy's Story: An Unhappy Child Learns to Live at Peace with the World"[1] by Life photographer Ralph Crane in 1947, and the 1946 book Photography is a Language by John R. Whiting.[4] He was a mostly self-taught photographer.[5]
He was drafted in 1952 and served in Korea, taking many photographs there.[5][6]
On his return, he attended Philadelphia Museum College,[citation needed] followed by Philadelphia College of Art during the 1954 to 1955. He moved to Chicago to study at the Chicago Institute of Design in the 1955 to 1956 school year.[7]
In 1959, he attended The New School for Social Research in New York City, where he settled.[8][better source needed] In the late 1950s, he made street photographs of people in Washington Square Park in New York City, later collected in the book Washington Square (2016).[9][10][11]
He emigrated to Toronto in 1970.[1]
Heath's work is held in the following permanent collections: