A Hungarian fashion photographer is taking the heat after he used the refugee crisis as a source of inspiration for a photoshoot.
In Norbert Baksa's series titled "Der Migrant," a woman wearing revealing clothing dressed as a migrant is battling police and posing near wire fencing. Her makeup is smudged to seem like she was either bruised or dirty.
Needless to say, it didn't go over well with a lot of social media users.
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, 2015Migrant. Chic. Is. Not. A. Thing. https://t.co/Oqv6lAMsmW
— Υussre (@yvssre) October 7, 2015Shortly after his photos sparked outrage, Baksa wrote a defense on his website explaining what he wanted to accomplish from the photoshoot. He denied having glorified the crisis and said he wanted to portray a "complex" situation to make people reexamine it from another perspective.
"I do not understand how people can take a clear stand (pro or con) while we are flooded with contradictory information through the media, so no one has extensive knowledge of the situation as a whole. 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 an smartphone."
He later reiterates on the kind of biased viewpoints people have on the refugees: "... Some will see refugee families with small children fleeing for their lives, while others only see masses of riotous migrants or even terrorists attacking police and representing a threat on our societies." (You can read his full statement here.)
Yet when you take a look at the photos, they don't seem so complex. In fact it's pretty simple -- a white model posing as a refugee, as if the situation made her clothes more appealing. If it's a fashion statement, it's unclear as to what the statement would be.
By Hayat Norimine
