The gallery's activities, along with its permanent exhibition activities, include participation in the photographic life of St. Petersburg, publishing of catalogues and books, educational programs: lectures, meetings, courses; sale and collecting of photography. Among the main tasks are the preservation and popularization of the photographic heritage of Russia, the maintenance of modern photography and the development of its artistic and technical level.

The gallery's collection is photographs of historical and artistic value. At the moment, the collection consists of works by such famous authors as Valery Plotnikov, Boris Smelov, Lyudmila Tabolina, Valentin Samarin, John Wimberly, John Sexton, Sergey Leontiev, Alexander Kitaev and many others. The collection also includes ambrotypes, daguerreotypes and a large number of historical photographs dating back to the 19th – 20th centuries.

The members of the Art of Foto creative union annually organize exhibitions of black-and-white hand-printed photographs in Russia and Europe with the aim of creating a positive image of Russian traditional and modern photography among connoisseurs and experts from all over the world.