Hungary Fashion Photographer Under Fire Over ‘Migrant Chic’ Shoot

Hungarian photographer Norbert Baksa says many people appreciate his latest project – a series of photos in which a scantily clad fashion model is depicted as a migrant – for “what it is meant to mean.”

Baska, referring to the ongoing EU migrant crisis, told RFE/RL that he did not intend “to glamorize this clearly bad situation.” He described his photo series featuring Hungary-based model Monika Jablonczky as an example of “art.”

Der Migrant people: realize the complexity of the situation and address it in different angles! Neither pro nor con, raising awareness!

— Norbert Baksa (@NorbertBaksa) October 6, 2015

Pictures are reproductions of reports in Hungarian media. Some show refugees fleeing for life, others show aggressive migrants or terrorists

— Norbert Baksa (@NorbertBaksa) October 6, 2015

Aim is not 2 offend refugees or anybody else, but 2 show duality in news reports in the media.

— Norbert Baksa (@NorbertBaksa) October 6, 2015

Pictures are results of voluntary project to bring the different views together by opening our minds to discover new points of views

— Norbert Baksa (@NorbertBaksa) October 7, 2015

“This is exactly what we wanted to picture: You see a suffering woman, who is also beautiful and, despite her situation, has some high quality pieces of outfit and a smartphone,” he wrote in an e-mail.

His series – showing Jabloncsky straining to escape the grasp of a baton-wielding security officer, taking a few minutes from her ordeal to enjoy a sandwich, and other poses in various states of dress in front of a barbed-wire fence – clashed with many peoples’ images of the migrant crisis.

But based on the Twitter outrage that has followed the publication of Baksa’s Der Migrant – a great number of people are missing his point.

This migrant chic fashion shoot was a really bad idea http://t.co/JL3iQENUvR HT @panyiszabolcs pic.twitter.com/0xciGU69Bs

— Tristan McConnell (@t_mcconnell) October 6, 2015

This 'migrant' photo shoot quite possibly depicts one of the things wickedly wrong with the world right now. http://t.co/ifYZzJFMT9

— Mahsa Alimardani (@maasalan) October 6, 2015

Some Twitter users were harsh in their criticism of what they described as “migrant chic.”

Hey, you know the European refugee crisis? That would make a GREAT theme for a fashion shoot.. said someone. http://t.co/li3DZFdIoP

— Scott McGrew (@ScottMcGrew) October 6, 2015

Remember Zoolander? NOT a parody, just sick: Der Migrant fashion shoot! http://t.co/GP8wJ1n2ED (via @panyiszabolcs) pic.twitter.com/76LSQZA2EZ

— Simon Thompson (@ShowbizSimon) October 6, 2015

It was only a few weeks ago, after all, that photographs of migrants attempting to cross the Hungarian border only to be confronted and detained by Hungarian police had the world’s attention.

Baska explains in comments that were later posted to his website under the contentious photo series that he usually refuses to deal with political topics, “but this situation affects the daily lives of virtually everybody in Hungary.”

Addressing his Twitter critics who suggested that his photos and theme were in bad taste, he insists that “we did our best to respect people’s faith and conviction and not to cross certain boundaries,” he wrote.

And regardless of the negative attention his pictures garnered on social media, Baksa notes that he has already “received many requests for publishing from various countries.”

Via Dangerous Minds, RFE/RL