Rudolf Franz Lehnert, born in Gross Aupa, Bohemia, was raised by his uncle in Vienna and studied photography at the Vienna Institute of Graphic Arts. After finishing his studies he used money inherited from his parents to travel abroad with his camera and in 1903 made his first trip to Tunisia. In 1904, on his return to Europe, Lehnert met Ernst Landrock, who was studying in Switzerland, and the two decided to become business partners, founding the firm Lehnert & Landrock, with Lehnert taking the photographs and Landrock being the business administrator. They travelled to Tunisia in 1904 and opened a photography shop in Avenue de France, Tunis that Lehnert used as a base for his various photographic expeditions in the Maghreb while Landrock organised the photo laboratory, and the marketing of the resultant prints and postcards.