David Hessemer earned a bachelor of arts degree in speech, rhetoric and communication from the University of Oregon. He also holds a second degree in photography from the Brooks Institute of Photography. Upon completion of that degree, he started a photo studio in Portland, Oregon where Nike Corporation was his main client for over 15 years.

His family then moved to Maui where he started a destination wedding company and shot over 1,500 destination weddings before moving to Southern California. Hessemer's passion has always been shooting assignments for nonprofit organizations worldwide. After moving to California, he started a nonprofit which specializes in preventing modern day slavery and human trafficking. He was a featured speaker at Oaks Christian School's TedX event in 2015, and eventually joined the faculty teaching photography.