As photography is constantly evolving, Jessica Layton hopes to see the evolution of students’ skills in her new role as the photography department chair at Sacramento City College.
Layton came from Santa Rosa Junior College and Sonoma State, where she was a photography instructor at both colleges since the fall of 2013. Layton has taught a range of photography classes from darkroom and digital to studio photography.
As of fall 2024, Layton joins City College with goals to help the department better meet the needs of the photography industry, as well as the needs for students in the photography program. Layton finds that City College has a vigorous community.
“Coming into the program it’s really great to see such a robust vocational program that exists here,” Layton says.
Layton expresses that she wants students in the photography program to feel proud of their work because of the skills they learned. Now that Artificial Intelligence is more present, Layton hopes that it is used more responsibly.
“The technology advancing with AI is just a natural progression in it and to be able to use it in smart ways where you are able to get strong images from it and use it as a tool kit and not relying on it,” Layton said.
Layton wants to form a community with her students where they can show off their own unique work. In a program that has each student coming into the classroom with a different skill set, Layton understands that everyone will have different needs.
“I think it is really important for them to set challenges for themselves, so some of the entry level assignments may feel too basic for them but at the end of the day those foundation things are still great ques for you to make strong work that then you can use for your portfolio,” Layton says.
Layton’s first experience with photography was in darkroom class at Santa Rosa Junior College in California. She expanded her education by enrolling at the School of Visual Arts in New York to earn her bachelor’s degree. Then she worked for a local darkroom called Print Space until moving to England to attend the Royal College of Arts to earn her master’s degree. She still has fond memories of learning how to work in a darkroom to process photos.
“It was just magical to me being able to see your images pop up in the darkroom from nothing,” Layton remarks.
Layton says it was a natural transition coming to City College because of her previous experiences teaching at the college level.
“The program has a range of really fantastic adjuncts and this first semester coming on I’m the only fulltimer so it kind of was a natural transition to that,” Layton says.
Paul Estabrook, City College’s dean of technology and innovation, praised Layton’s strong background in photography, including her education and teaching experience, making her the strongest candidate for Estabrook.
“Jessica stood out for her strength because she has a lengthy background as a photographer, No. 1, she has a bunch of education around photography from a bachelor’s to a master’s and sometimes in photography we see a lot of mixed education, but no she just had a nice strong background,” Estabrook said.
Now as part of Sacramento City College’s community, Layton is excited about her new position and what she can learn from the people she is now surrounded by.
“Each campus within Los Rios is going to have its own culture and feel,” Layton says, “and I definitely am excited that I’m at Sacramento City College, it’s great being in this hub.”
