THE sight of this kissing refugee couple made an amateur photographer take what must be one of most humanising photos of the migration crisis.

Istvan Zsiros, 30, a former IT worker who recently quit his job to focus on photography, went to the camp next to Keleti Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary on August 30, saying he wanted to photograph refugees after reading so much in the press about them.

“Love is the only thing that transcends space and time,” he told The Huffington Post UK.

He was at the camp for around 20 minutes, watching to see what shot he could take.

“This was the first time to take photos of refugees. Some kind of divination ‘told’ me to watch the refugees, and this heavenly help give me this lucky moment to take this image.”

The camp grew as thousands of migrants and refugees came through Hungary, trying to move on to Austria and Germany where they were more likely to receive warm welcomes.

Less than a week after Mr Zsoris visited, Hungary arranged for fleets of buses to take many thousands of them to the Austrian border, claiming it could not deal with the numbers.

Hungary has been reluctant to welcome or host refugees. It has built a fence along the length of its border with Serbia to keep them out and police have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them from the border.

Mr Zsoris added: “I’m not a journalist, so I haven’t got any experience in it. Photography is my love/passion for 10 years. I love catching moments, which can touch the soul.

“I saw the couple, and it was very touching especially in that environment. So I took the shot.”

The image circulated on social media after it was uploaded to a Facebook page hosting a competition. Two weeks later it was shared by professional photographer Yannis Androulidakis, to whom it was briefly misattributed.

It was described as “beautiful” and showing the couple’s love “amidst despair, hope”. (Huffington Post UK)

 
By Jack Sommers