2 photos open, no more than one layer will show at a time. the layer that has been clicked is the only one that will show in layer panel

I am new to Photoshop but I have followed the tutorials before. Everything I watch already has one or more layer added.

no more than one layer shows in the layer panel at once. (unless a blank one, after i hit add layer)

but anything else I open in Photoshop will only show by itself in the layer panel.

the one i've clicked on appears, the other one disappears.