The main collection was compiled by Agustín Víctor Casasola, a photo journalist in Mexico City.
[2] The collection is heavily weighted toward images in Mexico City, where the family was based, and with many photographs of politicians and political events, but there are also many scenes of everyday life, including scenes of industry, transportation, urbanization, crime, advertising, sports, arts, entertainment and portraits of the inhabitants of the capital.
With the possibility of its being sold and sent out of the country, the Mexican government purchased the collection, seeing it as an important part of its cultural patrimony.
[3] The former colonial-era convent of San Francisco in Pachuca, Hidalgo was renovated for climate control and the facility was opened on 20 November 1976, the anniversary of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution.,where it remains to date.
The Casasola Archive of the National Photo Library consists of 483,993 pieces, of which 411,904 are negatives – mostly glass plates and nitrates – and 72,089 positive prints.