In the 1850s the Valaam Monastery established its own photo-studio due to the Saint Petersburg philanthropists’ donations. The skillful and gifted monks-photographers took pictures of the Valaam views, the churches, the sketes, the monastic life, the monastery obedience work, the pilgrims’ and guests’ of honour visits. The photographs, taken by the Valaam Monastery photographers, scattered all over the world during 150 years: they can be found in the state archives, museums, national libraries in many countries. And in those photographs it is written Done by the Valaam monks, - as the humble monks never put their signatures either in the icons or other various works of arts made in the monastery workshops. In many family albums there are still kept the photographs of the Valaam views; pilgrims bought them as mementoes of their visit of the Wonderful Valaam.

In this section the following photo-exhibitions are presented:

• The Light Of Valaam - the e-version of the photo-exhibition The Light Of Valaam dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the Valaam photography. The photographs of Hieromonk Savvaty (Sevostyanov), the monastery photo-chronicler, are presented here. The exhibition first took place in 2000. The presented pictures are black-and-white.
• Old Valaam – the unique archive photo-materials on Valaam at the turn of the 20th century.
• Hieromonk Savvaty – the photographs of Hieromonk Savvaty (Sevostyanov), the monastery photo-chronicler, taken from 1994 to 2004.
• Sergey Kompaniychenko - a member of the Union of Photographers of Russia, the Union of Journalists of Russia, the International Federation of Artists (IFA). The photographer was a prize winner of the Union of Journalists of Russia (1993, 1995), an Interphoto-96 laureate – took the first prize in the category Culture. Science and Environment. In 1995 the Union of Saint Petersburg Journalists claimed him the best press photographer of the year. The exhibition presents the photos from the album The Valaam Monastery. 15 Years Of Revival released in 2004.
• Athos In The Valaam Monks’ Eyes - the e-version of the photo-exhibition Athos In The Valaam Monks’ Eyes. It presents the photographs taken by the monks of the Valaam Monastery while making their pilgrimages to Athos. The exhibition first took place in 2004.
• Viktor Gritsuk - his personal exhibitions are familiar to the photography community as well as his personal albums, his co-operation with the largest world agencies, publications in such magazines and journals as Vokrug Sveta (Around The World), National Geographic, Life, and Time, his work in the publishing house Planeta (The Planet), and the historical magazine Rodina (The Motherland). The photos were taken in 1998.
• Pavel Kozionov - the exhibition of Ural photographer Pavel Kozionov works (Ekaterinburg). Pavel often visits Valaam. The Ural Mining-Metallurgical Company has been taking an active part in the monastery restoration. The exhibition presents about eighty photos taken from 2004 to 2005.
• Hierodeacon Augustine – Father Augustine is the Valaam monk, the former professional camera-man. The photos were taken from 2006 to 2007.
• View Photographs – the exhibition is devoted to the view photographs. It presents the various authors’ works.
• Icons, Holy Places and Objects – the exhibition presents the Valaam Monastery icons, holy places and objects. The photos were taken by the Valaam monks.