On his website, Swiss photographer Gus Petro explains the concept underlying Merge:
In this project two opposite places are merged into one: New York City, where, it seems like, everyone wants to live there, and Grand Canyon / Death Valley, which are unlivable.
Mark Byrnes spoke to the artist about his process:
To make it, Petro took the photographs he had of the two sites, matched their perspective points and lens angles, then put them through a process he calls “Photoshop magic.” And he’s been surprised by the reaction. “After showing the images, most of the people who haven’t been in either place thought it was real,” he says. “They began questioning me where it is. I didn’t expect that for sure.”
The Dish 