[1] He spent nearly forty years in Brazil (mostly split between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), becoming an important figure in the cultural life of the both cities and the bossa nova movement of the 1960s.

He studied at Columbia University in New York City, majoring in history and literature, where he later gave classes in journalism.

Although he was based in New York, Zingg contributed text and photographs to publications including Look, Life, Esquire, Show, Town and Country, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, Interview, El Paseante, Zoom, Modern Photography, Popular Photography, The New York Times, the London Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph, and The Observer.

In 1959, Zingg landed in Rio de Janeiro as a crew member on the Buenos Aires-Rio Ocean Race, which he had covered for Life and Sports Illustrated.

David played a role in the "punk-big-small-pop-rock" band Joelho de Porco with his friend Tico Terpins.

David Drew Zingg died on July 28, 2000, in São Paulo, Brazil, of multiple organ failure, after complications resulting from prostate surgery.