David Darom (Hebrew: דוד דרום) (born 1943 in Bombay, India, died 28 April 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel), was an Israeli marine biologist and nature photographer. Until 2007, he was head of the Department of Scientific Photography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.^[2]

David Darom was born in Bombay, India. His family immigrated to Israel in 1949 and settled in Jerusalem.^[1] In 1972, he received a PhD in Marine Biology.^[1]

Darom photographed the wildlife and wild flowers of Israel,^[3] with special attention to the documentation of the Plants of the Bible.^[4] Underwater he photographed hundreds of fish species as well as marine invertebrates from the Red Sea^[5][6][7][8] and the Mediterranean Sea.^[9] In 2001, Upeneus davidaromi, a species of goatfish found in the Red Sea, was named in his honour.^[10]

Darom was an avid collector of handmade (Custom) art knives. In 2002 he published a series of large format art books on the subject.^{[11][12][13][14]}In 2003, he published "Art and Design in Modern Custom Folding Knives",^[15] and in 2005, "Art and Design in Modern Custom Fixed-Blade Knives". In 2006 he published "The Art of Modern Custom Knifemaking" and in 2007 "Modern Custom Knives – The Great Collections". Several of these volumes have been translated into 5 languages.^[16]

In 2008 Darom published the first book in a new series "Custom Knifemakers of the World" with "Edmund Davidson, The Art of the Integral Knife".^[17][18] In 2009 Darom published the 2nd book in this series, "Tim Hancock, The Art of the Western Bladesmith" and a 3rd volume, "The Art Knives of Van Barnett & Dellana" was introduced in 2011.^[19]

In October 2010, Darom was awarded the Nate Posner Memorial Award by the Knifemakers' Guild at their annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky (USA), recognizing his "Outstanding Service in the Promotion of Handcrafted Cutlery".^[20]