With regards to images; they do add value to a site. The trick is to place thumbnails (smaller, but recognisable images) on the pages themselves, hopefully not slowing down the page significantly, and link to a larger version of the same image - to open in a new browser window. This other window can be left unadorned, with just the image showing, or you can create pages for the full images that reflect the sites look & feel, perhaps with a Close This Window button/hyperlink.
Most image editors will allow you to Save for the web, which will optimise the image reducing the file size - both for the thumbnail and the larger image. I might add that the large image should be optimised to fit the width of your target audiences mean screen resolution (currently accepted as 800x600, though 1024x768 is gaining ground rapidly).