The person behind the images, as well as the precise history of certain photographs, was unraveled by Mariann Sipőcz, a staff member of the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute (currently the Head of Special Collections at the National Film Institute – Film Archive). In her study titled The Mystery of the Photographer—which appeared years ago in the OSZMI's "Artifact of the Month" series—the researcher identified Isépy, who had previously been treated as an unknown amateur, through brilliant investigative work. The meticulous examination of military rank, family connections, and the locations appearing in the images allowed the glass negatives—some of which were taken with a stereo camera—to finally begin regaining their original context.
László Isépy’s subject matter was simultaneously influenced by his military profession and the bohemian spirit and openness to the arts that characterized his private life and social network. Although a disciplined sense of composition and the conscious placement of space and figures occasionally appear in the shots, his images are much more deeply permeated by a profound humanity and a love of life, as well as the power of spontaneous and unstudied moments. Meanwhile, through the photographs, we gain insight into various events of contemporary social life; we can stumble upon decently erotic female nudes, but famous actors of the era also appear—including Sári Fedák, Irén Varsányi, or Gyula Hegedűs, typically members of the Comedy Theatre (Vígszínház) company—while family gatherings and European travels further enrich the collection. The photographs clearly reveal that for this self-taught photographer with an intuitive eye, photography surely represented a dedicated intellectual recreation and, above all, a form of entertainment.
