At the age of 35, Chris Burkard has seen more of the world than most of us could hope to see in several lifetimes: from Iceland, Norway, and the Russian Far East, to India, the Pacific Islands, and South America.

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Burkard began contributing to Surfer Magazine as staff photographer in his early twenties. After several years shooting surfers in the tropics, Burkard found himself drawn to the cold waters of the Arctic.  It was there, in the northern latitudes, that Burkard expanded his reach beyond water photography to encompass adventure travel, landscape, and aerial photography—and to take his first steps as a director and filmmaker. In 2017, his film Under an Arctic Sky debuted at the TriBeCa Film Festival.

 

Burkard's book projects include:

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• The California Surf Project - with friend and co-author Eric Soderquist, 2006

• Plight of the Torpedo People - 2012

• Russia: The Outpost Vol. 1 - 2013

• Distant Shores - 2013

• High Tide: A Surf Odyssey - 2015

• The Boy Who Spoke To the Earth - a children's book, 2015

• Wayward - a memoir published by Abrams, 2022

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Burkard has directed/produced notable films including:

 

• Unnur – Earned official selection honors at TriBeCa, Mountain, and Breck Film Festivals, awarded Sunshine Coast Film Festival best cinematography and Nordic International Film Festival honorable mention.

• Under An Arctic Sky – Tribeca Film Festival Official Selection; featured on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Red Bull TV

• Mylo - Sony Alpha Films

• North to the Future - Sony Alpha Films

• Arc of Aleutia - Roark

• Inaka – Billabong Adventure Division, directed by Elli Thor Magnusson and co-produced with Mike Sandifer

 

Burkard’s commercial clients include AirBnB, American Airlines, Apple, Belstaff, Billabong, Burton, Capitol Records, CitiBank, Constellation Wines, Corona, Coors, Destination BC, Disney, Duracell, Fjallraven, Fox, Honda, Huckberry, Hurley, Land Rover, Lufthansa, Microsoft, Montblanc, Mountain Hardwear, New Zealand Tourism, Nixon, O’Neill, Pacifico, Patagonia, PrAna, REI, Sony, The North Face, Toyota, Travel Alberta, Travel Montana, Travel Oregon, Visit Norway, Volcom, Volkswagon and Yeti Coolers . His work has been published in editorial titles worldwide, including Condé Nast Traveller, GQ, Men’s Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Outside, Red Bulletin, Stern, Sunset, Vogue, and Wired.

Burkard has earned an extraordinary following in social media, including more than 3.7 million followers on Instagram, and his TED Talk: The Joy of Surfing in Ice-Cold Water  has garnered more than 2.2 million views.