American amateur photographer Chester Moulton Whitney, (born Charles) who signed his work as C.M. Whitney, was born on September 18, 1873 in Westminster, Massachusetts. As early as 1896, Whitney was affiliated with the “Tech” Camera Club at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. In 1899, one of his photographs, Looking Westward, was hung as part of the prestigious Second Annual Philadelphia Photographic Salon at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.  At the time, he lived at 235 Bayard Street in Trenton, New Jersey but by 1912, his photographic back stamp showed his address as 57 North Street in Mount Vernon, New York. Whitney is believed to have made his living as a high school teacher, (the 1940 U.S. Census lists his occupation as work shop teacher) and was a contributor of articles on photography appealing to the amateur. These were published in journals including  The Photo-Beacon, The Photo-Era, and The Photographic Times at the turn of the 20th century. He is also listed in these publications and others as having won awards for his work.

This photograph is titled  #6. “Peter.” in faded red crayon on the mount verso by Whitney. With the background dropped out and converted to a drawing, this photo had the distinction of being used as the main cover art for the August, 1907 issue of Shields’ Magazine, a sporting journal. The magazine describes it as follows:

The photo reproduced on the cover of this issue is by Chester M. Whitney, who calls it “A High Jumper.” This photo was made with a Century Petite camera and was one of the winners of 11th prize in my 11th annual photo competition.  (1.)

1.  editors note: in: Shields’ Magazine: edited by G.O. Shields: New York: August, 1907: p. 132