BIO
| “Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed.” – Sydney Smith 1771-1845 |
| As she turned the pages of the National Geographic magazine in front of her, Robin Layton, at the age of fifteen declared to her mother in their living room in Richmond, Virginia, “I would love to take pictures like these.” Her mother replied, “You know you can do that for a living.” Without a beat, Robin answered, “Then that’s what I am going to do.” And keep to it she did. When the time came, she attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, the premier school for photojournalism. And never did she desert her talent; Former photographer for: Seattle Post Intelligencer, Seattle, WA Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, VA (Premier paper for photojournalist.) The Sandusky Register, Sandusky, OH (First woman photojournalist ever hired.) Photojournalist since 1985 • By age 24; Robin was honored by Life magazine as one of the eight most talented photographers in America. • In 1991, her photo of a young soldier embracing his daughter while departing on the USS John F. Kennedy was chosen to be part of the Smithsonian exhibits. • On cue, at 34, she was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her photo story on runaway teens in downtown Seattle. • In 1995 the magical season for the Seattle Mariners was summed up by the picture seen around the world. “The smile at the bottom of the pile.” When Ken Griffey Jr. scored the winning run in their storybook series winning the AL West title against the NY Yankees. • Robin’s work was included in the 2002 tenth anniversary celebration exhibition at the most prominent Seattle G. Gibson Gallery along side with works of world renown photographers such as Diane Arbus, Henri Cartier Bresson, Sally Mann, Mary Ellen Mark, Elliott Erwitt. • She was then honored in 2003 and 2004 by Seattle Bride Magazine as the Best Wedding photographer. “They can see the emotion; they can feel the emotion,” she says. That’s photojournalism, and Layton is the master. As she is relating these facts, one can hear the soft grace of Southern poetry in her speech. By nature, Robin makes down-to-earth seem formal, a home grown Will Roger’s kind of disarming charm that makes one fear that their dog would gladly follow her home. It is why when you first set eyes on her work that you notice a pause and then a stirring inside. What pictures do best is capture a moment; Robin’s work somehow captures the life of that moment. That’s when your mind does a double take. Her work has the power that great paintings do, generate energy, a vibration. At the end of the day, one walks away humbled as Robin shares, “It’s not really me, I’m just a vessel for God, and it comes through me.” - Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed. - |
 |