The photographs in the collection provide a view of the Grand Rapids, Michigan economic sector in 1915. The images include wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and a variety of service agencies. Among the views included are furniture factories, florists, dry good merchants, show merchants, laundries, news publishers, moving and storage firms, restaurants, hotels, grocers, business schools, flour mills, public buildings and public parks.

The album appears to have been made by the Camera Shop on a subscription basis for firms whose photos are included in the album. The photos also detail several substance abuse hospitals, business schools, or colleges that flourished during the Progressive Era in Grand Rapids, as well as public buildings in the city and public parks. Other Camera Shop photos are found throughout the Grand Rapids Public Library archival collections, as they were collected for use, and then passed on by their original owners. The original negatives from the Camera Shop are owned by the Public Museum of Grand Rapids.