Born in the United States, David E. Scherman established his career as a photographer and editor, gaining significant recognition for his work as a war correspondent. His professional trajectory was defined by his ability to capture critical historical moments on the front lines, providing visual evidence of the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Scherman worked primarily in the medium of photojournalism, utilizing his camera to document the realities of conflict and political collapse. His images of the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps remain significant historical records of the era.

While recent institutional focus has often centered on his contemporaries, such as Lee Miller, Scherman's legacy persists through his contributions to 20th-century photojournalism and his extensive archive of wartime reportage.