Following Jovan Ritopečki’s death in Vienna in June 1989, his eldest daughter came into possession of most of her father’s photographic archive. She brought it to her apartment and began to gradually rearrange it over the course of several years. Additional materials stored in Ritopečki’s ex-wife’s apartment, have only been preserved in part. In January of 2025, the photographer’s heirs transferred custody of a large part of his estate to the Vienna Museum.

Ritopečki‘s photographic estate primarily documents his work as a freelance press photographer in Austria from 1970-1989. To a lesser extent, it also includes his photographic activities in Yugoslavia prior to his migration to Austria in 1966. A small number of photos from Ritopečki's professional work for the Viennese photo agency Votava between 1966 and 1970 have also been preserved. Around 19,000 negatives relate to Yugoslav labor migration. The estate contains only a small portion of developed positives. Additional photographic prints are held by individuals, associations, as well as the Viennese municipal collections. In addition to photographic materials, Ritopečki‘s estate also contains newspapers and periodicals featuring his photographs and articles, as well as correspondence, documents relating to his professional life, and other printed materials, such as invitations and exhibition posters. Despite the wealth and variety of Ritopečki's estate, its absences are readily apparent: f.e. color films, contact prints, personal notes.

Ritopečki‘s heirs confirm the loss of photographic materials, as do the materials which are accounted for. For instance, the original negatives for some published photographs are missing. At other times, the contents of a particular envelope or sleeve do not match what is written on its obverse. Even the photographer`s arrangement of materials has been lost in part over time.