This week on press pass, it is all about access. And in her 20 years working as a white house photographer for time magazine, diana walker has had a lot of access. Reagan, george h. W. Bush and bill clinton. But some of her most memorable photos have been of Hillary Clinton. In fact, shes out with a new book that chronicles Hillary Clinton from first lady to secretary of state, through pictures. Diana joins me now. Thanks for coming on press pass. Thanks for having me. So, lets talk about what it takes to become the photographic fly on the wall, to get to that point where the person, your subject, trusts you to be in the room. Well, first, you have to have a News Organization behind you like time magazine. Who really cares about photos like this. They did. Th. They did. Between the 80s and 2001, we got very lucky with access. What about with mrs. Clinton in particular . When did you know she trusted having you in the room . You know, youre never sure until youre let in. And there you are. And you publish the pictures the following week, or you dont publish them. We had a very good record on publishing what we were given access to. But i used to have to ask formally. And the president or the first lady had to agree to let me in at the specific times. Did they ever complain about any of your photos . No. You find that good or bad . I know. I wonder. No, no one ever complained. Well, thats got to be a good feeling, they feel like you wery capturing the moment. Your job is there to capture the moment. I hope so. Yes, it certainly is. And i was try to try and peel the onion a little bit and show you what they looked like away from the mikes and the lights. Lets start with some of these photos. This is xn÷1998. This is africa. This is the clintons together. Is this during the midst of the Monica Lewinsky situation. This was the midst of the Monica Lewinsky. I was allowed to follow them on a trip to africa, basically behind the scenes. That meant just in and out every so often. But in this case, this was april and the Monica Lewinsky story i guess broke in january. So were in the early stages. Perhaps he hasnt told the full truth to her yet. We dont know for sure the timeline but it is possible the way we understand the timeline. I cant speculate on that at all. But i found myself on a boat with them on the chobay river while the press went sailing off in the opposite direction. And i was indeed across from them on the top deck when all of a sudden this series began. This was the most affectionate youd ever seen the first couple . Yes. I think so. I think they are the most intimate pictures. That you have of them. Lets move on here a little bit. This is Hillary Clinton, the senator. 2001. Her first year. Her head is down. Is that her studying . Is it her frustrated . There are so many ways you can interpret a photo like this. You know, its funny, because i take the pictures, then you have to interpret them. And i take them and when im taking them im making some assumptions, i think, in my did you . And what would be your asemg assumpti assumption. My assumption there was she was just tired after this was about 10 00 at night. Shes been voting all day, voting all day, walking all over capitol hill. And i think she was just exhausted. You just captured that moment. Trail with her. Im guessing you went a few years following her around as first lady. What did you notice that was different about her on the campaign trail for herself as opposed to the woman you were photographing in the a4n190s . You can see this in the book that there is a definite progression, i think, in her willingness tosbpz be out ther. She seemed more comfortable. Oh, i thought so. Interesting. I really did. Because the knock on her back then was that she still didnt seem comfortable. But you saw a difference. Yes. I thought she was a lot more engaged with being out there than she had been before. I was sort of reminded of her husband when i watched her in crowds. She learned a Little Something from him. I think maybe. He would be a good teacher. So here you are with her and barack obama together. How did they what did you make of their interactions before he was president . Well, this was an open photo opportunity. I was not behind the stage there. This was in a Television Studio before one of their debates. And i thought it was important to have them together in the same frame and i was not thinking too much about what they were doing but whether i could get a picture of the two of them. They almost look like theyre getting along. This was in the heat of the campaign. Thats right. It was the heat of the campaign. It could have been that night when he made that comment about, well, youre not so bad, hillary. Youre likable enough. I think was that. Here we are at the toward the end of the campaign, hillary and huma. You know, humas kind of a dream assistant. She is fabulous and very together and very oh, shes just really good. And obviously they worked together for a long time and its been a very good relationship. Back with more toe foes. Intimate photos of Hillary Clinton from photo journalist diana walker. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. At first, we were protecting networks. Then, we were protecting the transfer of data. And today its evolved to infrastructure. Finance. And military missions. Were constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyber battle, wherever it takes us. Thats the value of performance. Northrop grumman. It welcome back to press pass. Im joined now by photo journalist diana walker out with a book titled hillary. It chronicles Hillary Clinton through the years here in washington and beyond via photographs. Many of them the black and. Tc e ones in this book are ones that were yours exclusive. No other photographer there. The color ones you were there with a group. Thats right. Except a few, like this one. A few like this one that was in color. A few more photos, then i want to talk to you about the future of photo journalism with politics these days. This is one that went viral. Hillary clinton texting. She became everybody went, oh, look whos got bill clinton still not much of a texter. Not much of a gadget guy. But Hillary Clinton, gadget person. That was so surprising. Not that i hadnt seen her on a blackberry before, but the situation was so odd on the airplane which is a c17 transport plane. And secretary clinton was going from malta to tripoli, libya. Andl matk used this large, lowflying plane. The photographer from reuters and i were the only two on her plane and we were asked if wed like to come up front by felipe rains, her press secretary. And we came up and were standing there about to shoot pictures and she was looking in her bag underneath the desk and she was obviously looking for her glasses. And she found her glasses and put them on and they were her dark glasses which i guess were the first ones she found. And i thought, wow, this is a funny scene. Sure. I love in the back, everybodys all running around, hustling around, shes just serene, sunglasses on, looking at her blackberry. Very cool. Cool as a cucumber there. What do you think people will take away when they look at these photos through the years . Whats the story youre telling . Well, its 20 years. And shes a multilayered fascinating subject. Do you know her . You know what i mean by that . Do i know her as a close friend, no. Right. But do you feel like you know her though . I know her through a camera lens. And i think shes shown me a lot. But all i can do is take the pictures and hope that you get something from them, that you understand her better, perhaps, when you see more of her personality show through in the pictures, or at least thats my aim and thats the point of going behind the scenes as i did and ask is for permission to be back there. Because you can see so much more than you see out in public. Whats the future though of somebody what you did for 20 years for time magazine, and now pete souza, of course, the chief white house photographer inside. Photo journalist. Hes been on both sides of this line here. But now we see behind the scenes he gets the best access to behind the scenes and he releases many of the photos now. Used to be that person you didnt see those photos until after the fact, it would be eight years later and the intimate portrait, oh, reagan in the white house remembered type of thing. Now it is instantaneous. How would that change your job today . Well, i wouldnt have done what i did. Because today there is that access that pete gets and does very well. It would be a little bit different with me or a photographer from a magazine or a newspaper, because theyre still wearing their journalist hat. Pete is not. And thats the difference. Pete is on staff and he does a great job and its very interesting to see those pictures. I take my hat off to him for but its not journalism. Creating that. But it is not journalism. So maybe id get sent over, i dont know. Maybe my magazine would like my point of view. You just never know. Were you a developer . Did you develop your own film . I did whether i was about 10 years old in my basement. Do you think thats an art form itself, developing, or is it just a lost art . Oh, well now, its sort of a lost art. Except for the artists who are using photography as a medium and are truly artists. They are. And theyre using the dark room still, to very effective uses. But now digital has just changed everything. Its totally changed, i must say. Diana walker, the book is fascinating. Hillary through the years. 20 years youve had an intimate upclose seat. Great stuff. Thanks for coming on. Thats all for this edition of press pass. See this and our pass conversations on meetthepress. Nbc. Com. Stay tuned for president obamas weekly address