Leopold Fischer (photographer)

Leopold Fischer (1902-1978) was an Austrian police officer and much-awarded Pictorialist, and later, Modernist, photographer.
Biography.
Born in Vienna, and living there for much of his life from 1939–1962 in the one apartment-cum-studio at Passingergasse 61/9, from 1923 Fischer was a member of the Federal Security Guard (police).
Pictorialist photographer.
In 1924 he began his first photographic experiments and later practiced as a part-time professional photographer. From 1928 he started exhibiting internationally with success in salons, and after 1934 showed with a group of photographers of the police sports association, becoming their leader in 1938. His specialty was bromoil and the still more complex bromoil transfer process with which he produced colour-tinted prints, for which in 1943 he received a Bronze medal inscribed “Leopold Fischer, master of the Schutzpolizei in Vienna, for his achievements in the field of pictorial photography".
Reportage.
During WW2 Fischer produced occasional documentary photographs for war reports as part of his police work, and temporarily was a war correspondent in southeast Europe, working from 1942 for Bavarian publishing director Wolf (Henry) Döring (1888 - 1958).
Modernist techniques.
After the war Fischer continued to exhibit and modernised his practice with graphic techniques including solarisation and Sabattier effects, bas-relief, contour printing, posterisation, and tone-dropout in both monochrome and colour printing.
Recognition.
Aside from his success in international photography salons, it was Fischer’s older, more documentary picture that Edward Steichen chose in 1953 for the 1955 world-touring Museum of Modern Art exhibition that was seen by 9 million visitors "The Family of Man". Window-light reveals a Tyrollean farmer family at their table eating their lunch from a cooking pan, while their child sups from his own bowl. The photo next appeared in 1954, with "Tar worker" and "Street Atmosphere (with tram)", in the "Yearbook of the Photographic Society of Vienna 1953 - 1954". Steichen had come to Europe seeking photographs for the exhibition, but with few contacts in Austria he had to rely on a United States Information Service (USIS) officer based there, Yoichi Okamoto. The latter recruited Viennese gallery director, M. Gottschammel, of Verlag Die Galerie to collect and initially screen photographs sent by respondents to a 'call for participation' placed in newspapers and publicised widely in the photographic community in Austria. Fischer was one of five Austrian photographers who contributed work to "The Family of Man", though because he had not met him, Steichen was not to know of Fischer’s history of propaganda services to the Nazis and his police work for them during the war.
Legacy.
With Karl Piringer, Erich Körner and Emil Obrovsky, Fischer founded the "Österreichische Gesellschaft für Photographie" (ÖGPh) (Austrian Society for Photography) in 1955 to promote excellence in Austrian photography and to cultivate international contacts and connections in the photographic field. The Society continues today, with appointment to the ÖGPh granted by recommendation of two full members and limited to 65 in number.