Royce David Clements was born in Muncie, Indiana, in 1948 and raised in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 1966, spent two years at Lake Michigan Community College, and transferred to Wayne State University where he earned a B.S. in Education in 1970 and an M.Ed. in 1972.

Clements was a founding member of the Detroit Children’s School, an alternative to public education, and later worked in the Detroit Public School system as an adult education teacher.

At the same time, Clements was a member of the film collective Cass City Cinema, which ran screenings at the Detroit Cultural Center. In 1981, he began working in cable television, first in sales, then quickly moving to producing and directing video productions. In 1992, he established the multimedia company David Clements Productions, which still exists in 2023. Services include location scouting and management, commercial photography, and television production.

Clements married Karin Klue in 1985.

Throughout his life Clements has been an urban photographer. His work has been exhibited in one solo exhibition and dozens of group exhibitions, and featured in several magazine articles. His photography is the basis for "Talking Shops: Detroit Commercial Folk Art" (Wayne State University Press, 2005) and is featured in "Art in Detroit Public Places" 2nd and 3rd editions (Wayne State University Press, 1999 and 2008.)