Two years ago my friend, photographer David Coppens, lost his beloved dog Nez. He took this stunning photograph to memorialise his loss. The photograph went viral with many people taking credit for it, and even horrible memes being created from it. David had to fight to be given credit – and received so much abuse for it – at a time when he also tragically lost his second dog, Thai. Today I want to honour Nez and thank David for creating one of the images that have stayed with all of us who have lost a precious animal.
That warm summer night, the idea was to make a portrait of me, Nez and Thai watching the blood moon rise. Getting that shot, on my own, with a 400mm tele lens on a tripod 150 feet away, was quite a challenge. It didn’t make my final selection at the time. But it reminds me of all the nights we were out in the fields together, looking out for shooting stars, a special moon, approaching storm.. Miss my field companions
If you see this imagine online without the credit, remember the real person behind the photograph. I have had to fight to have my photographs removed from all over the internet. But none of them were as personal to me as the one above is to David. I know how much it hurt and upset him when a photograph so personal was used for all kinds of purposes.
After the devastating loss of Nez and Thai, David rescued Viggo, a beautiful mastiff who needed love and care. He uses the income from his photography to pay for medical care for his gorgeous boy as he ages and needs more help.
Find David on
I’m happy to have found the man who took this photo.
A friend had shared it on FB and did not know of it’s origin.
Much love to David and all his furry friends.
The first picture is so touching, and to hear what he went through is truly horrible. Nobody should go through that, especially when he had to deal with the loss of not one, but both, of his beloved pets during that time period.
The second picture is a very sweet one, a man and his fur-children enjoying a serene and quiet moment.
Thank you for showing us David Coppens for what he is, a caring and big-hearted man, who uses his income to take care of a furbaby instead of selfish needs or wants.