In considering how to combine images with each other and words with images for my final essay, Death of a Valley offers a beautifully crafted, touching narrative where the images are strong and expressive alone and the text contributes a deeper layer in the reading of the images. I found the essay touching and inspiring. It is clear that some of the images hit the strongest notes and others move the narrative along. There is a purposeful and direct layering of information, the plot builds with each image and by the time the bulldozers come along we have identified with the residents of the valley and are saddened by their loss in the name of progress.

Camilo Jose Vergara's site expertly weaves many years of photo-documentation and maps of multiple cities into a self-directed format that can be viewed, read and interpreted in as many ways as viewers, similarity and change interplay, details reveal, patterns emerge. 

Grouping and sequencing of images has been weighing on my mind. In a visual landscapes class that I am taking, groups of students were given an identical set images and an objective to guide them in arranging the images into sequences. The class then viewed the sets and voted on their preferences of the sequences without knowledge of the objectives. When the preferences where tallied and the objectives revealed, it became clear how strongly the sequences conveyed their message. Some included a title to guide or set expectations of the viewer others did not.