The photographs are arranged in seven series according to format or storage method - broadly reflecting the arrangement of the material as received and also based on a supposition that these factors bear some relation to how Larkin produced or acquired the material. They comprise:

U DLV/1 Framed photographs

U DLV/2 Photograph albums

U DLV/3 Wallets

U DLV/4 Envelopes

U DLV/5 Mounted/rolled photographs and folders

U DLV/6 Negatives

U DLV/7 Miscellaneous

The system of arrangement adopted here has sought, as far as is possible, to maintain and reflect the original order of the material as it relates to the intentions and working practices of its creating source: Philip Larkin. The time gap of sixteen years between Larkin's death and the deposit of his photograph archive in the University Archives, as well as the fact that Larkin collected and inherited as well as created parts of it, has made this process problematic and has meant that an order has been in part discovered and in part imposed on the material.