Since the opening of the Emil Buehler Naval Aviation Library in 1992, almost 400,000 photographs have been identified and placed into the files. Photographic coverage includes prints of specific aircraft and carriers, World War II combat photographs, and biographical files containing images of prominent figures in naval aviation history. In addition, the National Museum of Naval Aviation acquired the photograph collection of Robert L. Lawson, the longtime editor of The Hook magazine. This collection numbers over 300,000 prints, negatives, and color slides relating to carrier aviation.

The audio visual collection includes over 600 VHS tapes, many of them containing official Department of the Navy footage.