Leopold Lauscher was born in Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1838, no documentations were found on his early years. He married Nanette Letzter on the 9th of March 1862 according to the marital church records of the Orthodox Jewish Congregation of Szeged.

Likely, he mastered photography from his brother-in-law with whom he opened a mutual studio in the new Hoffer-house on the 8th of August 1875. According to a contemporary description of his studio “it has a neatly furnished reception room and a female toilette room on the first floor, while the picture room and the atelier, having top lights, are situated on the second floor. The customers’ convenience is taken care of in any ways. “

He took photos of landscapes, building sites, made children- and adult portraits in a high quality: “his pictures are authentic having excellent taste and technical features.” The Lauscher and Co. has won first prize for their outstanding achievement in photography at the National Industrial Fair organised in Szeged in 1876.

Photos displayed at this exhibition show the devastating effect of the Great Flood that hit the city of Szeged at 2 A.M. on the 12th of March 1879. The novelty of this exhibition lies in the fact that the artist’s photos can be seen together for the first time since 1985. Lauscher published a series of his photographs taken of the Great Flood in various sizes ((30x35 cm, 24x29 cm, 11x16 cm és 6x10 cm) with the Lauscher and Co. company logo. According to contemporary records, his fellow photographer was not present at the time of the flood, he was working abroad.

Contemporary media described Lauscher the photographer as follows: “recently, he became famous for his gorgeous naturalistic photos depicting the Great Flood which are highly-thought-after all over the country.”

He opened a photo studio at the previous place (Hoffer-House) on his own after the Great Flood stating his own name in the firm. He was contracted by the city council to take photos of the fort of Szeged from each side, furthermore, to take birds-eye-view pictures from the tower of the city hall.

His outstanding work ended with his sudden death. The local newspaper Szegedi Híradó praised his deeds in the April 2, 1881 issue:  “He also belongs to the ex-post victims of the Great Flood, while taking photos of the flood for several days he got such terrible cold that he fell seriously ill  from which he has never recovered; his lower limbs became paralyzed and he was between life-and-death until death set him free from his suffering. The deceased lived for photography and is credited for bringing it to such a high standard that equalled with the niveau in the capital.”