Jensen Walker: Photographer with a Heart and Warrior Spirit of Discovery

This is episode 47. I'm talking with Jensen Walker about life as a freelance photographer-- his career and artistic vision --the calling he has to help change the world and how he gets close to the story he wants to tell.

Airplane ticket. Check.

Rental car at the airport. Check.

Quad-band cellphone. Check.

Level 4 Kevlar personal armor. Check.

This isn't my business trip packing list, but it was for photographer Jensen Walker's last out-of-town trip to the Middle East to cover what CNN said was the less-photographed side of the Israeli-Lebanon war. That's what Jensen is about -- telling stories with images, each one opening a window to history and getting the viewer close to the story.  He's a young guy, 29, married, fit, filled with a sense of adventure and guided by a personal vision to tell stories as only photographs can: capturing a moment in time for all time. He bears witness so we can see ourselves reflected in the humanity of others.

Jensen Walker's photography is creatively diverse, and his work crosses a number of photo genres, including documentary, advertising and portraiture. From the frontlines of northern Israel to the frontlines of Hurricane Rita, to a shoot with the hip-hop music artist Ludicris, the thread through all of his work is the passion for story-telling. Whether in a single picture or through a project spanning months or years, Jensen's driving force is the desire to create narrative and visual discussion. His first book, "The House of Grace: A Girl's World," about child prostitution in Thailand, is now in its second printing, and Jensen is proud to report that the proceeds of this book helped build a second shelter for rescued girls.

We catch up with Jensen in our studios here at Talking Portraits Productions in Austin, Texas.

Tom