Walking onto the fifth floor of the V Building at San Diego City College, photography students, faculty and other members of the community are welcome to display their art on the walls of the Luxe Gallery.

Opened in 2010, the gallery is a mix of white walls and large windows overlooking the campus and what will eventually be high-rise housing for students.

Among those showing their work in the latest exhibit is professor of photography Jason Reimer, who is not only faculty but a City College alumnus.

Reimer, who attended City from 2009-2012, thought it would be fun to learn about photography, though it was not his intention to make a career from that experience.

Initially, he was tutoring his classmates on a one-on-one basis as he learned the material. He eventually became a technician for the photography class. 

One of Reimer’s professors noticed how helpful he was toward his peers and encouraged him to think about a new career path. 

“So he said, ‘you should probably think about teaching,’” Reimer said about his professor.  

Reimer began putting together a portfolio in 2013 and enrolled at The Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. 

“They have one of the oldest, best programs on the planet,” Reimer said. 

After graduating, he got in his car and drove back home the next day.

“I wanted to come back to City College and pick up where I left off,” the professor said.

Reimer’s favorite works in the exhibit are those of City College students.

They demonstrate their motivation by competing with each other to be selected for the gallery, Reimer said. The judges are professionals and commercial photographers from San Diego.

According to Reimer, judges do not know the participants, judging only the talent of the students rather than the students themselves. 

Reimer said he brought former students from another college to the gallery, in hopes of motivating them to improve their photography.

“They didn’t have a dark room, so I wanted to show them some of this stuff,” Reimer said,”and they were stunned at the quality of the work. They asked, ‘is this student work?’”

Earlier this month, the student art was moved to make room for a faculty exhibit.

By one of the windows in the Luxe Gallery, two photos taken by the professor hang on each side.

The photos are also included in his book “197_,” which is inspired by the death of his sister shortly before the birth of his first child. 

A mysterious book filled with more questions than answers, a combination of different types of complex photographs, textures and narratives, the book talks about grief and loss through art, Reimer said. 

After a long two-year process of making personal decisions about the content and design, Reimer finally released the book at the beginning of this year.

“This book it’s an apocalyptic journey of death, life and meaning,” Reimer said. 

Being both a student and a teacher, Reimer has had the opportunity to truly live the City College experience. 

“On one side of it, there’s a lot of gaps that you have and you’re trying to fill,” he said, “and on the other side you are the person who gets to help fill those gaps.”

Reimer is where he loves to be, close to photographs and everything that directly emphasizes this form of art.

To see Reimer’s work along with other City College faculty, visitors can attend a reception at the Luxe Gallery on Friday, Dec. 1 from 5-7 p.m.