ABSTRACT: The surge of Syrian and Middle Eastern migrants on to the European continent made international headlines in late August 2015, when the major access point to the west from Budapest, Hungary’s Keleti train station closed its service. As hundreds of migrants poured into the station, the pulse of the station evolved from being a place of transition to a place of residence. One aspect not readily considered was the clash between cultures, the migrants trapped in a local transit station as the local commuters connected to lines that readily define Hungarian historical struggles. One way to document these clashes is through the use of visual research.  RATIONALE FOR THE RESEARCH: Keleti train station is the main international and intercity railway terminal in Budapest. In August 2015, as Syrian migration surged heading west, locals on their daily commutes found themselves caught up in political turmoil unprecedented in Europe’s post World War II history.  The New York Times (2015) emphasized the Europe Union 28 member block and its “patchwork of policies” were not equipped to deal with the surge of people. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban’s government said to have some of “the most strident denunciations of immigrants on the Continent, is building a fence on the Serbian border (p.1 )”.  CONTEXT OF THE INQUIRY: The Keleti train station was constructed in the late 19th century and was considered one of the most modern stations in Europe with trains connecting the East with the West. Three of the four metro lines that connect the city converge in the Keleti station. In late August 2015, a surge of 2,500 migrants mainly from Syria arrived at the station within a 24 hour period to board trains west to Austria and hundreds more continued to arrive (Hartocollis and Bilefsky, 2015). After two days of chaos, the Prime Minister of Hungary halted train access to the migrants leaving them stranded in the Keleti train station. As the participant researcher, I documented this event over a seven day (September 5-12, 2015) process as I commuted on the local trains  commencing each day at Keleti train station.  Literature Informing the Inquiry: Visual research methods are accepted tools for qualitative research and are in increasingly used in a wide range of disciplines. Accordingly, Gallo (2001) adds photographs facilitate critical reflection because they are ‘frozen images” that could be examined thoughtfully. One research method utilized through photographs is photovoice.  Borrowing from Wang’s (1997) original definition photovoice focuses on three main goals: (1) to enable people to record and reflect a community’s strengths and concerns; (2) to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about personal and community issues through large and small group discussions of photographs; (3) and to reach policy makers. Participant Observation has its roots in anthropological studies where the researchers travel to faraway places to study customs and practices of less known societies (Iacono, Brown, and Holtham, 2009). Two types of inquiry (Evered and Louis, 2001): inquiry from the inside- drawing on the researcher’s experiences (subjectivity). inquiry from the outside- the analysis and reflection (objectivity). Visual data initiates a sense of space and place. Accordingly, Raffaeta and Duff (2013) emphasize in their visual study of Equadorian migrants settling Italy, visual data describes experiences, feelings and symbolic interactions often difficult to talk about. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: In what ways does the Keleti station evolve into a needs shelter to accommodate the migrant families? How do the members of the community respond to the influx of migrant families? 

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