PHOTO ARCHIVES

About the Photo Archives:

The Archives Division of the National Air and Space Museum holds 1.75 million images in various photographic formats. These collections cover the breadth and depth of the history of aviation and space flight. For example we have glass plate negatives of early Wright Brothers flights, photography of Apollo astronauts, detailed shots of aircraft components, and images of the October 2000 ground breaking of the new Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.

The public may obtain copies of Museum Archives images. We encourage you to contact the Archives Division with a research request well in advance of when you need the image. A research request has a normal turn around of three weeks. We are a research institution and do not have stock photography. The procedures for ordering images are outlined in our pamphlet How to Order Copy Photography (PDF format, 111k, requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader). Image duplication takes at least two months - be sure to give yourself enough time. Additional reference services are available from the Archives Division. For additional information regarding the time needed for image duplication we suggest you contact the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Imaging, Printing and Photographic Services (OIPP), 202-633-2320, or by email. You must order copy photography using OIPP's order form (PDF format, 103k).

Permissions:

Permission to Publish all Museum imagery must be obtained prior to reproducing our material in any form. Please consult our Obtaining Permission to Publish National Air and Space Museum Photographs page for details.

Online Photo Exhibitions / Highlighted Photo Collections

• When The Going Was Good: The Golden Age of Commercial Air Travel
• Commemorations In the Archives
• Army Green to Air Force Blue: The First Years of the Independent Air Force
• Fauna in the Files: Animals in the National Air and Space Museum Archives
• Hans Groenhoff Photo Collection
• Rudy Arnold Photo Collection

Photographs in the Technical Reference Files

• U.S. Air Force Pre-1954 Official Still Photography Collection
• The United States Air Force Pre-1954 Official Still Photography Collection was held by the Museum Archives Division until January of 1998. It is now housed at the National Archives and Records Administration. We suggest you contact NARA for queries regarding this collection.

Archives UFOs
Help the Archives identify some very curious flying machines.

Archives Paper Print Series
We have printed some of our most popular images on paper, and they are available for purchase at a lower cost than photographic prints.