Dear Zia, Paul, Alice, Lucy and Harriet, I am absolutely shocked by this dramatic news. I cannot think of how you must feel. I simply cannot believe this, and I hope you find the strength to cope with the situation. A life should never end so soon, so dramatically. My deepest thoughts and my love are with you. Thinking back to the times I spent with Sasha… I really got to know him during his last year in school, when he applied to university. Journalism, more precisely photo journalism, was his thing at the time. For that he needed a portfolio of photographs which we spent many hours putting together, often finishing rather late at the end of the day. I will never forget a cold Friday evening in December, it had snowed either all day or all afternoon, it was night time and the school was empty. Sasha’s portfolio had been finalised; his applications were sent. He was relieved and happy. When we left the guidance office, Sasha was only wearing sneakers and we had to walk through mountains of snow to get to the car park before I drove him home. We laughed so much. The situation was surreal, yet fun. Actually, laughing and talking is what I remember the most from our meetings. I loved our conversations, as Sasha was rather wild and unpredictable, very different to many of the students I dealt with. He was refreshing and very creative, in his own way. He would laugh now if he heard me, as he always looked at me with his big clear blue eyes, with an astonished look, when I praised his photographs, then he chuckled. Nevertheless, I think he sometimes surprised himself, looking at his photographs, which had been cropped and named. They suddenly were meaningful; they were testimonies and statements. That is how “Lady in Red” and “The little piece of white paper” were created. He managed to transform snapshots taken during outings with friends, into a personal, meaningful, research on “People of the World”. His friends were so important for him. I really think Sasha was quite proud of his work, even though he just laughed about it. Sasha loved observing people and the world around him. His big clear, curious blue eyes, his solum expression struck me when I first saw him around the school, when he was very young. He observed everyone. He was very important for me, I respected him so much, as an individual, because he refused to be forced to do what he didn’t want to do. He was a young person I could relate to, not really fit for school, however so charming, interesting, passionate and creative. We laughed together, which was fantastic. I will always cherish the times we spent together and I am very grateful to life for having been able to be part of his life for a little while. However today, I am so shocked and sad. My deepest thoughts are with you, his family, his friends, whom he loved so much. Bee Hoesli