Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water
Chris Burkard: La gioia di fare surf in acqua gelata
Chris Burkard travels to remote, risky and often icy locations to capture stunning images that turn traditional surf photography on its head. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
this was the face of pure joy,
è il volto della vera felicità,
Arctic selfie, I shiver just a little bit.
tremo un po'.
a little bit about this photograph.
a proposito di questa foto.
in the Lofoten Islands in Norway,
vicino alle isole Lofoten,
right at freezing.
trying to leave my hands,
che cercava di lasciare le mani,
to protect my vital organs.
i miei organi vitali.
and cheeks flushed red,
gli occhi infossati e le guance arrossate,
is somewhere I can find great joy.
riuscivo a provare una grande felicità.
psychologist Brock Bastian
lo psicologo Brock Bastian
to mindfulness.
verso la consapevolezza.
of everything in the environment.
di ciò che ci circonda.
of the world much like meditation."
simile a quella della meditazione."
then I would consider myself a monk.
potrei considerarmi un monaco.
in freezing cold water?
nell'acqua gelata,
a little perspective
una mia giornata tipo.
we were hoping for good waves,
speravamo in buone onde,
that was going to happen.
cosa sarebbe successo.
surf photographer, right?
fotografo del surf, giusto?
if it's a real job title, to be honest.
se sia un vero lavoro.
non erano convinti
my job to pursue this dream career:
per seguire i miei sogni:
and a tan that lasts all year long.
e una abbronzatura fantastica.
Life could not get any better.
La vita non poteva andarmi meglio.
in these exotic tourist destinations.
in questi esotici posti per turisti.
to these exotic locations,
a viaggiare in questi posti esotici,
and what I was finding was only routine.
e avevo trovato solo la routine.
and a constant cellular connection
la TV, le cene eleganti,
of places heavily touristed
dei posti pieni di turisti
for me to start feeling suffocated.
per iniziare a sentirmi soffocato.
others had written off
che altre persone avevano scartato
and too dangerous to surf,
oppure troppo pericolosi per il surf
against the mundane,
contro tutto ciò che è banale
one thing I've realized,
as surf photography,
come quella del fotografo,
this monotony, I realized something:
ho capito una cosa:
of the Earth's oceans that are warm,
sono caldi,
around the equator.
attorno all'equatore.
to happen somewhere cold,
in qualche luogo freddo
che ho iniziato a fare.
exactly what I was looking for.
che avevo trovato quello che cercavo.
by the natural beauty of the landscape,
dalla bellezza dei paesaggi,
we were finding perfect waves
di aver trovato le onde perfette
part of the world.
siamo andati in spiaggia
had piled on the shoreline.
ammassati sulla riva.
between us and the surf,
tra noi e il mare
through this thing like a maze
come in un labirinto
trying to get into waves.
venivamo spinti via dal ghiaccio.
one I'll never forget,
che non dimenticherò mai,
one of the last quiet places,
nell'ultimo luogo tranquillo,
and a connection with the world
e la connessione con il mondo
on a crowded beach.
in una spiaggia affollata.
(Risate)
and unforgiving environments,
su questi ambienti aspri e inospitali,
Norway, Alaska, Iceland, Chile,
Norvegia, Alaska, Islanda, Cile,
and a lot of places in between.
about these places
di questi posti
the creativity it took just to get there:
necessari per raggiungerli:
su Google Earth
of beach or reef we could actually get to.
dove poter andare.
the vehicles were just as creative:
i veicoli erano altrettanto creativi:
Soviet troop carriers,
a sei ruote,
helicopter flights.
spaventano molto.
bumpy boat ride
to this kind of remote surf spot,
verso questo luogo remoto,
helplessly from the water
ad osservare inermi
il nostro campo.
and bits of our tent,
e pezzi delle tende,
were at the bottom of the food chain
il fondo della catena alimentare
I traded for those touristy beaches.
per cui avevo abbandonato le spiagge.
to Norway -- (Laughter) --
-- (Risate) --
to appreciate the cold.
ad apprezzare il freddo.
the most violent storms in the world
più violente del mondo
into the coastline.
just inside the Arctic Circle.
all'interno del Circolo Polare Artico.
of sheep than people,
was nowhere to be found.
non lo avremmo trovato.
taking pictures of surfers,
you're getting out of the water.
ad uscire dall'acqua.
exactly what you've been waiting for:
cercando proprio questo:
with perfect waves.
my finger to push the trigger,
per scattare,
I shook it off, whatever.
Mi sono ripreso dal gelo.
the valley and hit me,
e colpirmi
quickly became a full-on blizzard,
è diventata una tempesta enorme,
perception of where I was.
di dove fossi.
out to sea or towards shore,
verso il mare o verso la riva,
was the faint sound of seagulls
era il debole verso dei gabbiani
for sinking ships and grounding planes,
per affondare navi e abbattere aerei,
I started to get a little bit nervous.
ho iniziato ad essere un po' nervoso.
borderline hypothermic,
ero quasi in ipotermia,
a uscire dall'acqua.
had to help me out of the water.
delirium setting in or what,
o cos'altro,
where I really began to feel
che mi hanno fatto capire
it was something I was forced to earn.
sono stato in grado di capirlo.
had actually taught me something:
mi aveva insegnato qualcosa:
is going to require us to suffer
bisogna soffrire,
that I did for my photography,
per fare queste foto,
che ora per me ha un altro significato
that was so much more meaningful to me
the pages of magazines.
le pagine di qualche rivista.
in these places,
una parte di me
I had always been searching for.
che ho sempre cercato.
la muta congelata
and cold wetsuits
anche solo stare in quel posto.
that it took just to get there,
what I see is just joy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Burkard - Surf photographerChris 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.
Chris Burkard | Speaker | TED.com