Swedish Instagram model Natalie Schlater has deleted her social media outlets after a backlash against a photo she posted of herself in Bali.
Schlater, from Stockholm, posted a photo of herself in a bikini overlooking a field of rice. A man can be seen in the distance farming the rice. She captioned the photo, “Thinking about how different my life is from the man picking in the rice field every morning.”
The model, who had around 12,000 followers before she deleted her account, received heavy criticism from fellow Instagram users, one of whom called her post “the epitome of the social media generation.”
Responding to her critics, Schlater wrote, “I am very aware of my privileges and how grateful I am for all that I have in my life and I was recognising how hardworking and unbelievably kind the Indonesian people are and never meant to come off disrespectful.” She then deleted her account.
The controversy comes after Instagram model @nz.nik drew criticism for posting topless photos from the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Ms Schlater said she was “heartbroken” by the reaction on social media.
“It breaks my heart to see this photo turned into a different light than it was originally meant to be,” she told Bored Panda.
“I have always loved the Indonesian people and their culture and overall attitude towards life and the people who come to visit their country.
“I worked extremely hard to save up enough money to go on that trip as I do not come from wealth as it may look like from social media.
“I completely understand that my caption can be taken wrong because of the social climate we live in today and if I could go back in time I wish I would have just worded it differently.”
