A number of partial collections, belonging to certain photographers, companies, institutions or individuals, have been selected on behalf of the Memory. The largest collection comes from Woodbury & Page, the top commercial photographic studio in the Dutch East Indies in the second half of the nineteenth century. A number of the photos taken by C. J. Neeb during the 1894 expedition to Lombok in have also been selected.

In addition, a number of smaller partial collections have been added to the Memory, including those of:
F. W. Stammeshaus, focusing on Atjeh
S. Grigorieff, focusing on Palembang
W. F. Heukelom, director of the Javasche Cultuur Maatschappij
J. Aanstoots, featuring photos of Surabaya

The photographs in the Memory (some 3000 in all) have been selected from the collection of the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden. The institute's website features more than 40,000 prints and photos and their descriptions.