Chris Burkard travels to remote, risky and often icy locations to capture stunning images that turn traditional surf photography on its head.

Why you should listen

For most people, surfing evokes sunny sand and warm, blue water in tropical locales. In his book Distant Shores, self-taught photographer Chris Burkard detours to the coastlines of Norway, Iceland and Alaska, shooting surfers as they ride waves on icy beaches that have rarely been photographed -- let alone surfed.

Traveling to often dangerous extremes to discover unknown landscapes, Burkard composes images that transcend the simple action shots of action photography, placing nature at the center of his compositions.

What others say

“While most surf photographers stick to popular warm-water paradises, SURFER Photographer Chris Burkard has taken a different path. By focusing on eccentric landscapes mixed with surf action, Burkard’s images of wild, remote, and often cold-water destinations don’t fit the standard mold, and they always stun the viewer.” — Surfer magazine blog, March 25, 2014

Chris Burkard’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Chris Burkard

Film

Chris Burkard’s quest for the perfect Arctic surf

April 19, 2017

Along the remote, frozen coast of Hornstrandir National Park, photographer Chris Burkard (TED Talk: The Joy of Surfing in Ice-Cold Water) and his team were in search of the Shangri-La of ice-cold surfing. Instead, they encountered Iceland’s biggest storm to hit land in 25 years. The challenges and hardships that transpired over those few days, […]

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