Gilbert E. Flaten was born at Vang in Valdres, Norway on August 21, 1856.  He came to the United States in 1882 and settled in Fargo shortly thereafter.  He first worked with his brother O.E. Flaten in a studio located in Moorhead, Minnesota in 1884.

Mr. Flaten was married to Emma Voxland on August 4, 1891, and they had two children.  In 1887 Mr. Flaten operated a saloon at 205 Front Street with a J. H. Hansen. Sometime in the late 1880s, Flaten opened his own studio at 506 Front Street which, for a time, was advertised as Flaten Brothers.

In May 1890 he took over the Haynes studio at 722 Front Street. On the back of one of his cabinet prints an inscription states "Duplicates from the Haynes Negatives can be had at any time." In 1893 Mr. Flaten moved the studio to 67 Broadway.  He sold the studio in November of that same year to Carl J. Reis and Theodor Larsen.

Mr. Flaten appeared to have been very active in the community.  He was a member of the Key City Hook & Ladder, the A.O.U.W., the Macabees, and the Foresters.  Mr. Flaten died in Fargo of typhoid pneumonia on February 25, 1896.

Gilbert E. Flaten as member of the Key City Hook and Ladder Co. Moorhead Fire Department Collection, Clay County Historical Society.