This series contains approximately seven thousand photographs, many of which have been mounted for exhibition and many of which are autographed. This series is divided into several subseries: Performance; Portraits and Candids; Rehearsal and Instruction; Other Subjects; and Photographs Mounted for Exhibition. The Performance category has been divided into subseries, for Bolshoi Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Other Companies, and Unidentified Companies. The Photographs Mounted for Exhibition subseries includes scores of mounted photographs and photograph collages, many of them autographed, that were framed for exhibition (Grell used gold frames and red mounting for Bolshoi Ballet images, and blue mounting and black frames for Kirov).

While many of the photographs lack identifying information, dates and/or names of dancers, ballets, choreographers, and photographers appear on many photos. Dancers and choreographers named include Yuri Grigorovich, Maya Plisetskaya, Vladimir Vasiliev, Irina Kolpakova, Galina Mezintseva, Yuri Soloviev, Nadia Pavlova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Marina Semyonova, Vakhtang Chabukiani, Galina Ulanova, Alexander Radunsky, Asaf Messerer, Ludmila Semenyaka, Marina Semyonova, Alexander Godunov, Natalia Bessmertnova, Raisa Struchkova, Ekaterina Maximova, Irek Mukhamedov, Nina Timofeyeva, Maurice Bejart, Maris Liepa, Andris Liepa, Natalia Makarova, Gediminas Taranda, Leonid Lavrovsky, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Nina Anianshvili, Yuri Zhdanov, and many others. Photographers named include Todd Lechtick, Judy Cameron, Nina Alovert, Francette Levieux, Jennie Walton, Snowden, Vladimir Pcholkin (also known as Pchalkin), Edward Griffiths, Jane Stephen, Janet O'Keeffe, Susanne Richelle, Branco Gaica, David Sandberg, Beverly Gallegos, Rosemary Winckley, Bliokh, John Mahoney, Sasha Gusov, A. Lidov, Dina Makarov, Judy Rogg, and Mike Humphrey.