How did Chris Burkard get started?
Before his photographs appeared in magazines, Burkard worked in a shop that sold them. He was attending junior college in Pismo Beach, California, and hoped that being surrounded by the publications he admired would bring him closer to photography. Eventually, he left both the shop and college to pursue it, as he recalled in his 2021 conversation with Deseret Magazine.
His first customers were much closer than a magazine editor. He photographed local surfers and tried to sell them pictures on DVDs. Weddings, portraits and interiors helped pay the bills while he worked towards the outdoor subjects that interested him.
Internships with landscape photographer Michael Fatali and TransWorld Surf gave him experience, but little comfort. In his Iceland Photo Tours interview, Burkard described living in his car during the magazine internship and taking about four years to start making an income.
He also made learning a daily habit. He bought expired film cheaply and researched technical questions online. In Field Mag’s interview about Wayward, he explained that doing this homework left him free to ask more thoughtful questions when he was around photographers he admired.
Why did he turn towards cold water?
Getting the dream assignment did not settle the question of what he wanted to photograph. Tropical surf trips began to feel repetitive. In his TED account of losing interest in familiar destinations, Burkard describes wanting wild places that other people considered too remote or too cold.
Iceland supplied the combination he had been missing: waves, difficult access and a landscape that held his attention. He describes threading through ice to reach the surf, then reshaping his career around harsh environments.
The work demanded preparation as well as enthusiasm. WIRED’s 2015 account of his cold water shoots describes long searches through maps and trip reports, followed by journeys involving snowmobiles, helicopters and unusual vehicles. The mountains and sky mattered to his pictures as much as the surfing.
That gives this career a different emphasis from Jimmy Chin’s route from climbing to filmmaking. Burkard’s story centres on choosing a photographic subject and returning to it until the work became recognisable.
HeftySend lets you send up to 100 GB free without an account, with three days for collection. Our guide to organising a large photo delivery helps you prepare the files before sharing them.
How did personal projects bring in paid work?
A book gave Burkard’s photographs a life beyond individual assignments. The California Surf Project, made with surfer Eric Soderquist, followed their journey along the California coast in a Volkswagen bus. It gathered the trip into something people could hold, revisit and share.
In his conversation with Chase Jarvis, Burkard says the project took about three years and put his work in front of collectors and large companies. His advice is to give substantial personal projects enough time to develop, even when they cannot offer an immediate return.
He also describes a mission statement that helps him choose work: encouraging people to travel and experience places beyond their comfort zone. That gives him a practical way to decide which jobs fit, rather than judging every opportunity only by whether it is available.
At 1:06, he explains how his mission shapes his choices. At 3:43, he describes the new audiences reached by The California Surf Project.
What happened after the photography breakthrough?
Burkard expanded the ways his work could earn money. His 2017 Forbes interview describes a business combining commercial photography, editorial assignments, licensing, workshops and social media. That year he was also touring his Iceland film Under an Arctic Sky. A distinctive subject had become the basis for several kinds of work.
The relationship between personal and commissioned work continued. In a 2025 Matador Network interview, he explained that people who saw his books and films later hired him for other projects. He allowed time to promote those projects and see them through.
Success also changed what he wanted from work. In that interview he described selling his California studio and gallery, moving to Iceland, and reconsidering the habit of accepting every opportunity. The same photographer who had once wanted any paying assignment was now asking what kind of life those assignments made possible.
Frequently asked questions
How old was Chris Burkard when he started photography?
He recalls finding photography at around 18 in his Matador interview. In his TED talk, he says he was 19 when he told his parents he was quitting his job to pursue it.
Did Chris Burkard have formal photography training?
He describes himself as self taught, with internships and practical experimentation central to his learning, in the Iceland Photo Tours interview about his beginnings.
What is distinctive about his photographic composition?
Burkard says he often pulls back to show the whole environment, arranging foreground, subject and background together. His description of his visual style emphasises natural light and the surrounding landscape.
What is Wayward about?
Wayward pairs photographs with the experiences behind them, including difficult early assignments and lessons from travel. Burkard discusses that approach in Field Mag’s conversation about the book.