This unusually engaging cabinet photograph shows two fashionably dressed young men posed astride their bicycles in the studio of Olivia Bergsten of Ramsele, Sweden, probably around 1900–1904. Rather than merely standing beside the bicycles, both men are seated as though ready to ride, their hands placed firmly on the handlebars and their gazes directed beyond the camera. The painted woodland background, artificial grass, and carefully arranged bicycles turn the portrait into a lively celebration of cycling at a time when the modern safety bicycle had become an important symbol of mobility, recreation, and modern life. The two young men may have been brothers, friends, or cycling companions, although their identities are not recorded. Both wear dark, well-tailored suits with high white collars and polished shoes. The man at left wears a narrow necktie and a close-fitting peaked cap resembling the practical caps commonly associated with cyclists and working men, while his companion wears a bow tie, waistcoat, white pocket square, and broad-brimmed felt hat. Their contrasting hats and slightly different degrees of formality give each young man an individual appearance while preserving the sense that they deliberately dressed for the portrait. The bicycles are early diamond-frame safety bicycles, with similarly sized front and rear wheels, chain-driven rear wheels, narrow tires, and curved handlebars. This design largely replaced the dangerous high-wheel bicycle during the late 1880s and 1890s. Because bicycles were large, expensive, and difficult to position inside a studio, photographs showing two complete bicycles and their riders are substantially less common and more desirable than ordinary standing portraits. The photographer’s name is Olivia Bergsten. She was a woman photographer, making the studio imprint particularly noteworthy. Olivia Bergstén was born in Sånga, Sweden, in 1881, and died in 1972. Swedish photographic records identify her professionally as a photographer and document her studio activity in Ramsele during the early twentieth century. She married in 1904 and thereafter used the married surname Bågenholm, so a mount bearing only “Olivia Bergsten” very likely dates from the brief period before or around her marriage. Women played a significant role in Sweden’s early commercial photographic trade, and Bergsten appears to have entered the profession while still a very young woman. She was only about 19 to 23 years old during the probable period in which this photograph was made. Although detailed information about her training and the exact dates of her studio operation remains limited, surviving portraits bearing her Ramsele imprint establish that she operated there. Ramsele is a small community in northern Sweden. The photograph is mounted on heavy charcoal-gray card stock with a narrow black border. SOLD
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