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Rosalie Sofie Sjöman

1833-10-161919-01-25

Photographer

Rosalie Sjöman was one of the many prominent female photographers active during photography’s infancy from the 1840s right up to 1900.

Rosalie Sjöman was born in Kalmar in 1833. Her father was the captain of a merchant vessel who was employed by Handelsflottan (the merchant navy). Rosalie married Sven Sjöman, also a merchant navy captain, when she was 22 years old. The couple moved to Stockholm, where their first son was born in 1857. Three years later a second son was born. The family initially lived in Söder and then moved to Djurgårdsvärvet where Sven Sjöman was permanently employed as a steamboat captain. The couple’s daughter Alma was born in 1861. Three years later Sven Sjöman died, leaving young Rosalie Sjöman as the sole carer for her three small children.

Rosalie Sjöman became established as a photographer in 1864, opening her own studio on Drottninggatan 42. Carl Jacob Malmberg had previously had his studio at the same address and according to some accounts she had worked for him. Her enterprise expanded and by the late 1870s she had five staff working for her. She appears to have only hired women. R. Sjöman & Comp. later opened a studio at Regeringsgatan 6, with branches in Halmstad, Kalmar, and Vaxholm. Rosalie Sjöman’s surviving output includes a large collection of calling-card portraits (which were 9x6cm) and larger so-called ‘kabinett’ cards (which were 13x10cm). Her photographic motifs comprised a mixture of classic portrait studies, individuals wearing traditional costumes, various mise-en-scènes, and mosaic images. Rosalie Sjöman became known for her enamel photography which was produced by covering the outer layer of the image with a thin layer of collodion producing an extremely shiny exterior. Of particular prominence were also her extremely skilfully produced hand-coloured images, mainly of her daughter Alma Sjöman.

Photography broke through as an art form in France in 1839. Sweden was one of the first countries to adopt the skills required for the first successful photographic technique, namely the daguerreotype. Early photography went through a lot of experimental stages and it was not long before a negative image was produced on light-sensitive paper in a camera in England, thereby leading to the discovery of the negative. During the 1860s the art of photography transformed from just being a new and exclusive art to becoming a more widespread and generally available technique. The popular ‘carte de visite’ or calling-card portraits were introduced in France in the mid-1850s and became highly desirable items. This type of image spread quickly and portrait studios opened in both big cities and smaller places. This ‘cartomania’ lasted for about a decade before the market stabilised in the mid-1870s and photography entered a calmer phase.

Rosalie Sjöman was active throughout this period of expansion, as were other successful female photographers such as Lotten von Düben, Emma Schenson, and Bertha Valerius. During this time becoming a photographer, a copyist or a retoucher were all normal career options for women. Lotten von Düben was a pioneer of scientific photography and accompanied her husband, doctor Gustaf von Düben, on his travels through Lappland, documenting the Sami culture. Emma Schenson became famous for her architectural photographic studies, particularly of Uppsala cathedral. Bertha Valerius was a well-reputed portrait photographer in Stockholm whose clients included the royal family. The work of all four of these female photographers is represented by their photographs in the Moderna museet and Nordiska museet collections.

Rosalie Sjöman died in Stockholm in 1919 and is buried at the Norra cemetery in Solna.


Anna Tellgren
(Translated by Alexia Grosjean)


Published 2018-03-08



You are welcome to cite this article but always provide the author’s name as follows:

Rosalie Sofie Sjöman, www.skbl.se/sv/artikel/RosalieSofieSjoman, Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (article by Anna Tellgren), retrieved 2024-03-28.




Other Names

    Maiden name: Hammarqvist
    Married: Diehl


Family Relationships

Civil Status: Divorced
  • Mother: Carolina Hammarqvist
  • Father: John Peter Hammarqvist
  • Husband: Sven Sjöman
more ...


Education

  • Folkskola, Kalmar
  • Yrkesutbildning, Stockholm: Fotografisk lärling, Carl Jacob Malmbergs ateljé?


Activities

  • Profession: Fotograf, egen ateljé, R. Sjöman & Comp., sedermera med filialer i Halmstad, Kalmar och Vaxholm


Residences

  • Birthplace: Kalmar
  • Kalmar
  • Stockholm
  • Place of death: Stockholm


Sources

Literature
  • Dahlman, Eva, 'Kvinnliga pionjärer osynliga i fotohistorien.', Kvinnovetenskaplig tidskrift, 1993 (14:3/4), s. 45-54, 1993

  • Tellgren, Anna, Carl Jacob Malmberg (1824-1895): en studie av Fotografiska museets Malmbergkollektion, Fotografiska museet, Stockholm, 1992

  • Wigh, Leif, 'Architectural images and staged photographs: a study of Emma Schenson's and Rosalie Sjöman's photography', Women photographers: European experience, s. 160-189, 2004



Further References

Litteratur
  • Frizot, Michel (red.), A new history of photography, Könemann, Köln, 1998

  • Galifot, Thomas., Pohlmann, Ulrich. & Robert, Marie., Qui a peur des femmes photographes?: 1839 à 1945 : l'album de l'exposition, Vanves, 2015

  • Rosenblum, Naomi, A history of women photographers, 3. ed., Abbeville Press, New York, 2010

  • Söderberg, Rolf & Rittsel, Pär, Den svenska fotografins historia: 1840-1940, Bonnier fakta, Stockholm, 1983

  • Tellgren, Anna (red.), En annan historia : fotografi ur Moderna Museets samling = Another story : photography from the Moderna Museet Collection, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2011