Hungarian fashion photographer says there's nothing wrong with his 'migrant chic' photo shoot

A model wears a &#039;migrant chic&#039; head scarf and unbuttoned shirt.

(Image credit: Twitter.com/RossalynWarren)

published 8 October 2015

On today's episode of That's So Tone Deaf!, meet Norbert Baksa, a photographer from Budapest who decided the refugee crisis in Hungary would make an excellent backdrop for his "migrant chic" fashion shoot.

Oddly enough, Baksa wasn't able to find any refugees dripping in Prada or schlepping Louis Vuitton trunks, so he instead had to photograph a model wearing a headscarf and unbuttoned shirt taking a selfie with her Chanel-emblazoned phone as she leaned against a barbed wire fence. After Baksa released 13 photos from his "Der Migrant" shoot online earlier this week, he found himself on the receiving end of a backlash that was swift and fierce, The New York Times reports. "I hoped people would realize that the situation is very complex and see that they are taking stands based on partial or biased information," Baksa, whose work has appeared in Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Playboy, wrote on his website. "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."

Because his hole just wasn't deep enough, Baksa continued: "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." Hungary has been less than hospitable to refugees fleeing danger in countries like Syria and Iraq, and on Twitter, Baksa said the photos "are reproductions of reports in Hungarian media. Some show refugees fleeing for life, others show aggressive migrants or terrorists." Maybe for his next shoot he'll be inspired by the refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea; flimsy rubber boats and the smell of fear are just so chic. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.