Finnish wedding
What it is:
Carte de Visite (CDV) photo, 2.5 x 4 inches.
What I know about it:
Photographer is E. M. Andersen of Wiipurissa (now Vyborg, Russia).
Comments:
To me this looks more like a father dragging his wayward daughter to a shotgun wedding than a couple embarking on a lifetime of connubial bliss, but what do I know. In any case, this is another photo that launched me into a lot of internet research in an effort to determine its origin. The street address on the front is in Swedish, the city name is the German spelling, and the address on the back (street and city) is in Finnish. Plus, the city is now Vyborg, in Russia. Confusing, no? It’s located in a spot that has changed hands repeatedly over the years, being Swedish until the Russians seized it and turned it into the Grand Duchy of Finland (a predecessor to modern-day Finland) in 1812. After Finland declared independence in 1917, it went back and forth between Finland and Russia/USSR, and is now part of Russia. I’m guessing this is from the late 1800s, making it from the Grand Duchy of Finland. (CDVs were popular in the late 1800s, and the elaborate quality of this one suggests that it is from the latter part of that popularity. Plus, the primary language in use is Finnish.) Back to the photo, I’m intrigued by his ribbon, not to mention his Napoleonic pose. And is the pattern at the bottom of her dress a cloverleaf or something else?
Pics of Then 
I think you’re on to something here. The gentleman looks much older than the bride, and the two share similar facial features. I hope that this is a portrait of a father and daughter, perhaps a keepsake before he “gave her away”!