It maintained a collection of more than 10 million digital images, transparencies, black-and-white prints, early auto chromes, and pieces of original artwork.

The Image Collection operates as a full-service stock photography agency[1] as well as providing editing, research, and rights clearance services.

The images, which make up a collective portrait of the Society's early years, are stored in a 2,000-square-foot (190 m2) windowless, climate-controlled, underground archive with roots reaching back more than a century.

The National Geographic Image Collection archive also includes glass-plate negatives and auto chromes, the earliest examples of color photography.

The work of 204 photographers includes approximately 400 color and black-and-white images that are presented and divided into four themes: Exploration, Wildlife, People & Culture, and Science & Climate Change.