Art & Life with Jessica Lynn Walker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Lynn Walker.

Jessica Lynn, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I loved cars before I loved photography. I needed to figure out a way to do something automotive related when it came time to decide what I would do for a living. My dad started teaching me photography on his Pentax K1000 at a fairly young age, and I actually started listening to those lessons when I was about 12 or 13 years old. The minute I got my drivers license I ran around all summer taking photos of cars I thought were cool. At dealerships, stoplights, in people’s yards and driveways, you name it.

I realized I needed to hone my skills and started taking photography classes in my junior and senior years of high school. Once it was time to decide what kind of career I wanted to pursue, I was already having so much fun with photographing cars that I decided I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.

I ended up going to Brooks Institute of Photography because they had an automotive program. I got super lucky and when it was time for me to take the Automotive Photography class the normal teacher was out on medical leave and his good friend, John Kiewicz, the head photographer at Motor Trend Magazine, was subbing in for him.

Well, I worked hard in that class and continued to do so after it was over. I spent practically every last dime I had renting cars and going on road trips to take photos of them and keep practicing. I bugged the crap out of John with emails of my latest shoots, but it paid off to be annoying. When it came time to hire a new photo intern for the year, he came straight to me, and that’s where my career took off.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I love everything about cars, the mechanics, the technology, the history, but above all else I am drawn to them aesthetically and the way they make an enthusiast feel. I try to capture that in my photography.

You can put any car in front of any decent background and expose it correctly, and it’ll look great. Cars are designed to look great! I try to capture the essence of the car and make you feel something about it. Maybe it’s a vintage car, and I want you to feel what it’s like to drive down the coast with the top down and feeling free, or maybe it’s a performance vehicle that needs to be driven hard up a twisty mountain road.

Each car has its own story and will make an individual feel a certain way about it. My job is to show the beauty of the car in its element.

In your view, what is the biggest issue artists have to deal with?
The ongoing battle of social media, probably.

Social media is wonderful in so many ways. Artists are able to get their work out there for free or very little and get eyes on it, which is what we all want. However, with this has come the unfortunate issue that a lot of people then think your art is free and they may use it however they wish.

There’s so much sharing out there that it’s created an environment in which the artist must decide what’s worth going after and what isn’t. It’s an individual choice, as the market gets more and more saturated with new and old artists alike trying to figure out what’s acceptable stealing. Is someone with 112 followers sharing your photo without credit worth the time to ask them to take it down? How about someone with 112,000 and is making money off of your photo? Maybe the “exposure” is worth it? How do you decide?

It’s a very difficult atmosphere to navigate, and I think it’s the biggest challenge all of us have ever had to face, but we all need to adapt and figure it out because social media isn’t going anywhere!

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can view my work in most of the major automotive magazines and news outlets. I shoot a lot for the manufacturers directly so it won’t necessarily have my name on it as credit. If you want to specifically seek out my photography the best place is my website jessicalynnwalker.com and my Instagram @_jess_walker_.

Contact Info:

• Address: San Pedro, CA
• Website: jessicalynnwalker.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jess_walker_/

Image Credit:
Jessica Lynn Walker

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