Friday, November 19, 2010

Nick & Sempi~ Montana Dog & Documentary Photography

I've been documenting the relationship between people and their dogs for over 3 years now. Last week I was there for the deepest, saddest part between a dog and his human. This was the most difficult shoot I have done and Nick felt it would help him to have me there. Nick, a teacher in the adaptive world of disabled skiing and wilderness adventurer and guide, and Sempi, a 14 year old Siberian Husky, have jored together over 8000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Nick got Sempi at 8 weeks old and over their 14 years together Nick's understanding of love deepened as happens to all us dog people. But most beautiful is the definition of the name Nick gave his young pup: Sempi, defined on wikipedia as "a relationship with reciprocal obligations, somewhat similar to a mentoring relationship." Wow.

Sempi passed four hours after Nick curled up with him to say goodbye. In the spirit of the Thanksgiving week I love celebrating these two beings that were so grateful to have had each other in their lives. Let's all be thankful for our wonderful friends both canine and human this and every week. And if you know someone that would like to donate a pup to Nick's future wilderness adventures please be in touch.













Nick and Sempi during the summer when we first met

5 comments:

Charles Fowler said...

Wow I'm sitting here with my retired service dog "Romeo" he's 11 and blind and has some difficulties in moving around and I have his replacment "Brady" they get along like father n son, passing of the torch so to say. The Photo's are so touching. God Bless

Scott White said...

Well done Lauren...

ErinElizabeth said...

Tears in my eyes, so beautiful, the story and the photos. Thanks to you, Nick and Sempi for sharing.

Unknown said...

Lauren: Nick contacted me to help him get a new Sibe puppy. He just called and told me to look at these photos. I run a small Husky rescue in Idaho Falls. As a lover of the breed and as a person who has lost two of her best furry friends (one recently)...I started crying so loud my husband ran up from the basement to see if I was ok. When he saw the photos, he cried too. I will do my best to find Nick a new soulmate pup. The hallway in our house is a photo tribute to my dear pups, Kachina and Boomer. I can't look at their photos without crying. We will find Nick a new pup.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for everyone's comments. Birdsong, so glad we can help out Nick!