Greetings,
Is it a raster catalog you're working with? What happens if you zoom in to just 1 or 2 footprints? By default, if more than nine images are in the current display extent, raster catalogs are displayed as a wireframe; otherwise, the actual raster data will be displayed. Using the wireframe speeds up the display of raster catalogs. The default of nine images can be changed in the display properties of your raster catalog or on the Raster tab on the Options dialog box.
-Eric