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Photographer's Refugee-Inspired Photo Shoot Sparks Outrage On Twitter

Twitter users are calling it "tasteless" and "utterly sick."
Twitter/DOC_PROVOCATEUR

Hungarian photographer, Norbert Baska, is currently under fire for his "migrant chic" fashion editorial.

Inspired by the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, "Der Migrant" features model Monka Jablonczky depicting a very well-dressed migrant. One image shows Monka taking a selfie with a phone displaying a Chanel cigarette phone case, while another shows her wearing a Rihanna T-shirt and holding a handbag that resembles a Louis Vuitton. Other photos show Jabloncsky trying to escape the grasp of an officer, one of which shows a hint of her bust.

Norbert Baksa
Norbert Baksa
Norbert Baksa
Norbert Baksa
Norbert Baksa

Twitter users took to the social media site to slam the editorial, criticizing Baska for glamourizing the refugee crisis. One called the series "utterly sick" while others questioned the thinking behind the idea.

One user even compared Baska to Derek Zoolander.

Baska was quick to respond to the backlash, writing on his website that he "never meant to offend anybody", nor did he intend "to glamourize this clearly bad situation." Instead, he wanted to "draw the attention to the complexity of these people's problem(sic)."

"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 writes.

He finished off by writing, " To people who said I am stupid, I can only say they should examine the problem from different angles, all the more that they do not live in Hungary, so they do not experience it first hand."

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