in cape town, a drug called tik turns children into monsters and drives parents to despair. ellen pakkies didn’t know what to do anymore. on the morning of september 12th, 2007, ellen pakkies, aged 45, geriatric nurse, killed her son abie. she strangled him with a cord. on the same day she turned herself in to the police. but ellen is not going to prison. she received a three years suspended sentence with probation.
01
lavender hill, a township in cape town
02
"i couldn’t stand it anymore. i’m sorry."
03
at some point abie is sleeping in the shed on the courtyard
04
but he always finds a way into the house
05
tik has a good grip on a whole generation
06
"the worst thing was that i still loved abie"
07
when you’re smoking tik, you’re superman. when you’re smoking tik, you want sex
08
"when i miss him, i come here." "every day."
about
2009
since september 09 based in berlin, germany
2003 - 2009
working, based in munich, germany
1999 - 2002
munich school of photography, graduation
freelance assistant
1996 - 1998
photography apprenticeship in passau, germany
