Images behave differently in groups, juxtaposed, than when displayed individually. In a sense, a new kind of image is created one in which the frame is a gallery wall or a two-page spread in a magazine or book, and the few or several images themselves become picture elements. The arrangement can be time-based or spatial, or a mixture of the two, and according to the medium the viewer has more, or less, choice in the order o seeing the photographs. A slideshow is inflexible and highly controlled, while a magazine or book allows the reader to flick backward and forward.

One of the classic uses of photographs in an assembly is the picture story, and some of the best examples come from the heyday of large-format, general-interest illustrated magazines, from the early days of the Miinchner Illustrierte Presse and Ilustrated Weekly in London, to Life, Picture Post and Paris-Match. Well executed, the picture story is a complex entity, involving not just the talents of the photographer, but of the editor, picture editor, and designer. The individual visual unit is the "spread" (a double-page layout), and it is the sequencing of spreads that gives the picture story both its narrative and dynamic flow.

From the point of view of shooting, the knowledge that the end product will be a grouping of images introduces new demands, but perhaps eases the pressure on getting one single all-encompassing shot. Only very occasionally do all the important elements in a...