Hungarian born Pap studied at the Bauhaus Weimar under Itten and Moholy-Nagy. From 1924 he moved to Siebenbürgen and worked as a lithographer, whilst experimenting with photography. In 1928 Itten invited him to teach in his new school in Berlin, where he remained for five years. Back in Hungary he focussed on documenting the rural lifestyle and taught at the Academy of Arts in Budapest.