The final selection of photographs for this project was made from these areas. The JIDI selection was made mostly from the main 'Land Survey' collection. The subject of each photograph was carefully chosen by the field geologists, who also wrote a description. As well as the straightforward geological and landscape studies the collection is strong on photographs illustrating coal, building stones, hard rock and the more utilitarian sand and gravel industries. Both of the latter related to the War effort in the first and second world wars respectively.
Many later photographs are oblique aerial shots - familiar landscapes from unusual perspectives.
The collection, now totalling c.35,000 photographs, is a unique and valuable record of the geology and landscape of the United Kingdom and, due to its early beginnings and the systematic nature of its growth, can be regarded as a major UK photographic archive.