[Kitchen in the White House, Washington, D.C.]

C. M. Bell Studio of photographic portraits worked in Washington DC from 1873 until 1916. Charles Milton Bell (1848-1893) was one of Washington's leading portrait photographers. His studio became known for its large collection of portraits of Washington notables, including politicians, leading businessmen and educators, embassy officials and distinguished visitors from other countries, church leaders, athletes and entertainers, and members of Washington's black middle class. The Library of Congress C. M. Bell Studio Collection comprises of over 25,000 glass plate negatives.

Charles Milton Bell was an American photographer who was noted for his portraits of Native Americans and other figures of the United States in the late 1800s. He was called "one of Washington's leading portrait photographers during the last quarter of the nineteenth century" by the Library of Congress. Bell enjoyed a congenial business relationship with the Grover Cleveland administration and made many portraits of Cleveland's bride, Frances Folsom Cleveland, after their marriage, as well as portraits at the second Cleveland inauguration.