This article describes the background to and present existence of photographic collections in the UK, and attempts to create a co-ordinated policy for acquisitions and recording, culminating in the National Photographic Record and the publication of the Directory of British Photographic Collections. The implications of various recent pieces of legislation for the future of photographic collections are considered, and proposals for a ‘National Photographic Archive’ utilising aspects of the new technology are outlined. This paper was first delivered at the Royal Society of Arts, London, on 17 November 1982, and subsequently published in the Royal Society of Arts Journal vol. CXXXI, no. 5318, January 1983.