Tom Jenz has long had a passion for exploring the backroads in search of vanishing America and the frontier icons he photographs. His unique images recall his American Indian heritage and his memories of boyhood in smalltown Wisconsin. They have appeared on Hallmark greeting cards, on Sunrise greeting cards, and in various magazines and websites. He is the photographer and writer of a national line of humorous greeting cards, Blue Highway, published and distributed from 1987 to 1994 by Sunrise Publications, Bloomington, Indiana. His fine arts photography, specializing in vanishing America and called TomJenzAmerica, is represented by the Works On Paper gallery in San Francisco. His stock photography is represented by TranStock in Los Angeles, Images.com in New York, and by Pixibit in Europe.

He has also written and produced cable network TV shows and has written short stories and articles on frontier subjects such as the Indian, the cowboy, and the farmer. He co-wrote and produced the feature film, Old Explorers, starring Jose Ferrer and James Whitmore.

His short stories and essays have appeared in prestigious literary journals such as: the Virginia Quarterly Review, Michigan Quarterly, North Dakota Review, Writers Forum, American Fiction, South Dakota Review, Sage, Amelia Magazine, Kinesis, the Greensboro Review, and City Pages. His travel articles and commentaries have appeared in the Minneapolis Star & Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal, Chicago Tribune, American Photographer, Detroit Free Press, Christian Science Monitor, and others.