Government Gunshop, U.S. Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

Was the son of Jesse Albert Graves, an early American photographer who produced nearly 500 views of the western part of Pennsylvania. C. H. Graves studied the art of photography under his father and began to practice it in Philadelphia around 1880. He founded several companies to distribute his prints, the most prominent of which was the Universal Photo Art Company, which operated from 1895 to 1910. It was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a branch in Naperville, Illinois, where F. A. Messerschmidt served as manager. Graves' catalogue contained nearly 1600 original views. He used a platinum printing process and some of the views were labelled The Art Nouveau (Platino) Stereograph.