ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Burkard - Surf photographer
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.

More profile about the speaker
Chris Burkard | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water

Chris Burkard: O prazer de surfar em águas congeladas

Filmed:
2,086,582 views

"Tudo que vale a pena conquistar requer o nosso sofrimento, só um pouco", diz o fotógrafo de surf Chris Burkard, ao explicar sua obsessão com as praias mais geladas, violentas e isoladas do mundo. Através de fotos impressionantes e histórias de lugares em que poucos humanos já viram - e menos ainda surfaram - ele nos leva à sua "cruzada pessoal contra o mundano."
- Surf photographer
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.

00:13
So if I told you that
this was the face of pure joy,
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Se eu contasse a vocês
que essa era a cara da pura alegria,
00:19
would you call me crazy?
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vocês me chamariam de doido?
Eu não os condenaria,
00:22
I wouldn't blame you,
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00:23
because every time I look at this
Arctic selfie, I shiver just a little bit.
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pois sempre que olho para essa selfie
no Ártico, tremo um pouquinho de frio.
00:28
I want to tell you
a little bit about this photograph.
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Quero contar a vocês
um pouco sobre essa foto.
00:31
I was swimming around
in the Lofoten Islands in Norway,
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Eu estava nadando
pelas Ilhas Lofoten, na Noruega,
00:35
just inside the Arctic Circle,
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bem no Círculo Polar Ártico,
00:37
and the water was hovering
right at freezing.
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e a água do mar estava congelante.
00:40
The air? A brisk -10 with windchill,
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O ar? Um vento forte de 10°C negativos,
00:44
and I could literally feel the blood
trying to leave my hands,
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e eu pude literalmente sentir o sangue
tentando sumir das minhas mãos,
00:47
feet and face, and rush
to protect my vital organs.
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pés e rosto, e corri
para proteger os órgãos vitais.
00:52
It was the coldest I've ever been.
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Foi o frio mais intenso que já senti.
Mas mesmo com lábios inchados,
olhos fundos e bochechas vermelhas,
00:55
But even with swollen lips, sunken eyes,
and cheeks flushed red,
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00:59
I have found that this place right here
is somewhere I can find great joy.
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descobri que esse lugar aqui
é onde encontro grande alegria.
Bem, em relação à dor,
o psicólogo Brock Bastian
01:06
Now, when it comes to pain,
psychologist Brock Bastian
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01:09
probably said it best when he wrote,
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provavelmente descreveu
melhor ao escrever:
01:11
"Pain is a kind of shortcut
to mindfulness.
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“A dor é uma espécie de atalho
à atenção plena.
01:14
It makes us suddenly aware
of everything in the environment.
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Ela nos faz subitamente conscientes
de tudo no meio ambiente.
01:18
It brutally draws us in
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Ela brutalmente nos empurra
01:20
to a virtual sensory awareness
of the world much like meditation."
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para uma consciência sensorial virtual
do mundo semelhante à meditação.”
Se morrer de frio é uma forma de meditar,
então me considero um monge. (Risos)
01:25
If shivering is a form of meditation,
then I would consider myself a monk.
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01:28
(Laughter)
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01:29
Now, before we get into the why
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Antes de entrarmos no porquê,
01:32
would anyone ever want to surf
in freezing cold water?
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alguém já desejou surfar
em água supergelada?
01:35
I would love to give you
a little perspective
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Adoraria dar a vocês alguma perspectiva
01:38
on what a day in my life can look like.
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de como pode ser um dia da minha vida.
(Música)
01:41
(Music)
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02:28
(Video) Man: I mean, I know
we were hoping for good waves,
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(Vídeo) Homem: Sei que estávamos
esperando por boas ondas,
02:31
but I don't think anybody thought
that was going to happen.
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mas acho que ninguém pensou
que isso iria acontecer.
02:34
I can't stop shaking.
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Não consigo parar de tremer.
02:36
I am so cold.
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Estou com tanto frio.
(Música)
02:40
(Music)
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02:43
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
02:48
Chris Burkard: So,
surf photographer, right?
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Chris Burkard: Então,
fotógrafo de surfe, certo?
02:51
I don't even know
if it's a real job title, to be honest.
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Nem sei se isso é nome de uma profissão,
para ser sincero.
02:54
My parents definitely didn't think so
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Meus pais achavam que não,
02:56
when I told them at 19 I was quitting
my job to pursue this dream career:
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quando falei aos 19 anos que deixaria
o emprego por essa profissão tão sonhada:
03:01
blue skies, warm tropical beaches,
and a tan that lasts all year long.
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céu azul, praias tropicais,
e um bronzeado que dura o ano todo.
03:06
I mean, to me, this was it.
Life could not get any better.
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Para mim, era só isso.
A vida não podia ficar melhor.
03:10
Sweating it out, shooting surfers
in these exotic tourist destinations.
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Suando, fotografando surfistas
nesses locais turísticos exóticos.
03:14
But there was just this one problem.
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Mas só havia um problema.
03:16
You see, the more time I spent traveling
to these exotic locations,
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Quanto mais tempo eu gastava viajando
para esses lugares exóticos,
menos gratificante parecia ser.
03:20
the less gratifying it seemed to be.
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Planejei buscar aventura,
e só encontrava rotina.
03:23
I set out seeking adventure,
and what I was finding was only routine.
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Coisas como wi-fi, TV, bom jantar
e uma conexão constante de celular
03:27
It was things like wi-fi, TV, fine dining,
and a constant cellular connection
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03:32
that to me were all the trappings
of places heavily touristed
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que para mim eram as armadilhas
de lugares com muito turismo
03:35
in and out of the water,
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dentro e fora do mar,
03:37
and it didn't take long
for me to start feeling suffocated.
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e não demorou muito
para eu começar a me sentir sufocado.
03:43
I began craving wild, open spaces,
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Comecei a ansiar por locais selvagens,
lugares ao ar livre,
03:47
and so I set out to find the places
others had written off
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e então fui em busca de lugares
03:50
as too cold, too remote,
and too dangerous to surf,
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tidos como frios demais, distantes demais
e perigosos demais para o surfe,
03:54
and that challenge intrigued me.
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e esse desafio me intrigava.
03:57
I began this sort of personal crusade
against the mundane,
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Comecei um tipo de cruzada pessoal
contra o mundano,
04:01
because if there's
one thing I've realized,
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pois se há uma coisa que percebi,
04:04
it's that any career,
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é que em qualquer profissão,
04:05
even one as seemingly glamorous
as surf photography,
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mesmo uma como a aparentemente
glamorosa de fotógrafo de surfe,
tem o perigo de se tornar monótona.
04:09
has the danger of becoming monotonous.
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Assim, na busca por quebrar
a monotonia, percebi algo:
04:12
So in my search to break up
this monotony, I realized something:
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04:15
There's only about a third
of the Earth's oceans that are warm,
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apenas cerca de um terço dos oceanos
da Terra tem água morna,
04:18
and it's really just that thin band
around the equator.
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e é apenas essa estreita faixa
ao redor do equador.
04:21
So if I was going to find perfect waves,
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Então se eu fosse encontrar
ondas perfeitas,
04:24
it was probably going
to happen somewhere cold,
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provavelmente seria em algum lugar frio,
04:26
where the seas are notoriously rough,
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onde os mares são muito violentos
04:28
and that's exactly where I began to look.
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e foi exatamente lá que comecei a busca.
04:31
And it was my first trip to Iceland
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E foi em minha primeira viagem à Islândia
04:33
that I felt like I found
exactly what I was looking for.
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que senti ter encontrado
exatamente o que procurava.
Fiquei impressionado
com a beleza natural da paisagem,
04:36
I was blown away
by the natural beauty of the landscape,
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04:40
but most importantly, I couldn't believe
we were finding perfect waves
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mas o mais importante, eu não acreditava
que tínhamos encontrado ondas perfeitas
04:44
in such a remote and rugged
part of the world.
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em uma parte do mundo tão distante
e com relevo tão acidentado.
Num momento, chegamos à praia
04:47
At one point, we got to the beach
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04:49
only to find massive chunks of ice
had piled on the shoreline.
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e vimos pedaços maciços de gelo
empilhados à beira do mar.
04:53
They created this barrier
between us and the surf,
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Eles criavam essa barreira
entre nós e o surfe,
04:55
and we had to weave
through this thing like a maze
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e tivemos que remar
por uma espécie de labirinto
04:57
just to get out into the lineup.
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para chegar à formação das ondas.
04:59
and once we got there,
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E ao chegar lá, empurrávamos de lado
os pedaços de gelo para pegar as ondas.
05:00
we were pushing aside these ice chunks
trying to get into waves.
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05:03
It was an incredible experience,
one I'll never forget,
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Foi uma experiência incrível
que nunca esquecerei,
05:07
because amidst those harsh conditions,
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porque no meio dessas condições adversas,
05:10
I felt like I stumbled onto
one of the last quiet places,
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senti como se tivesse caído
em um dos últimos recantos de paz,
05:14
somewhere that I found a clarity
and a connection with the world
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onde encontrei uma clareza
e uma conexão com o mundo
05:17
I knew I would never find
on a crowded beach.
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que nunca pensei encontrar
em uma praia lotada.
05:22
I was hooked. I was hooked. (Laughter)
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Fui fisgado. Fui fisgado. (Risos)
05:25
Cold water was constantly on my mind,
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Mares gelados estavam constantemente
em meu pensamento, e dali para frente,
05:28
and from that point on,
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meu trabalho focou esse tipo
de ambiente primitivo e impiedoso,
05:29
my career focused on these types of harsh
and unforgiving environments,
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05:32
and it took me to places like Russia,
Norway, Alaska, Iceland, Chile,
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e ele me levou a lugares como Rússia,
Noruega, Alasca, Islândia, Chile,
05:36
the Faroe Islands,
and a lot of places in between.
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Ilhas Faroe e muitos outros lugares.
05:39
And one of my favorite things
about these places
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E uma das coisas favoritas
sobre esses lugares
05:42
was simply the challenge and
the creativity it took just to get there:
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era simplesmente o desafio
e criatividade necessários para chegar lá:
05:46
hours, days, weeks spent on Google Earth
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horas, dias, semanas gastas
no Google Earth
05:48
trying to pinpoint any remote stretch
of beach or reef we could actually get to.
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tentando localizar um trecho distante
de praia ou recife onde pudéssemos ir.
E ao chegarmos lá, os veículos tinham
que ser igualmente criativos:
05:53
And once we got there,
the vehicles were just as creative:
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05:56
snowmobiles, six-wheel
Soviet troop carriers,
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"snowmobiles", carros soviéticos
de combate com seis eixos,
05:59
and a couple of super-sketchy
helicopter flights.
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e uns dois voos de helicóptero
superrústicos.
06:03
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
06:05
Helicopters really scare me, by the way.
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Helicópteros realmente me dão medo,
por falar nisso.
Houve um passeio de barco agitado
06:08
There was this one particularly
bumpy boat ride
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06:11
up the coast of Vancouver Island
to this kind of remote surf spot,
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lá da costa da ilha de Vancouver
até um local de surfe, meio distante,
06:14
where we ended up watching
helplessly from the water
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onde acabamos vendo do mar, indefesos,
06:16
as bears ravaged our camp site.
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os ursos saquearem nosso acampamento.
06:19
They walked off with our food
and bits of our tent,
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Eles foram embora com nossa comida
e partes da barraca,
06:22
clearly letting us know that we
were at the bottom of the food chain
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claramente avisando que estávamos
na base da cadeia alimentar
06:25
and that this was their spot, not ours.
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e que aquele era o espaço deles,
não o nosso.
06:27
But to me, that trip
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Mas para mim, aquela viagem
06:29
was a testament to the wildness
I traded for those touristy beaches.
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foi um testamento à vida selvagem
que troquei pelas praias turísticas.
Agora, só quando viajei para a Noruega...
(Risos)
06:36
Now, it wasn't until I traveled
to Norway -- (Laughter) --
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06:40
that I really learned
to appreciate the cold.
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eu realmente aprendi a apreciar o frio.
06:44
So this is the place
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Esse é o lugar
06:46
where some of the largest,
the most violent storms in the world
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onde algumas das tempestades
mais fortes e violentas do mundo
06:49
send huge waves smashing
into the coastline.
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enviam ondas imensas
que quebram na linha costeira.
06:52
We were in this tiny, remote fjord,
just inside the Arctic Circle.
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Estávamos nesse fiorde estreito,
distante, no Círculo Polar Ártico.
06:56
It had a greater population
of sheep than people,
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A população de ovelhas
era maior do que a de pessoas,
06:59
so help if we needed it
was nowhere to be found.
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então, se precisássemos de socorro,
não haveria onde encontrar.
Eu estava no mar fotografando surfistas
07:02
I was in the water
taking pictures of surfers,
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07:05
and it started to snow.
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e começou a nevar.
07:08
And then the temperature began to drop.
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A temperatura começou a cair.
07:12
And I told myself, there's not a chance
you're getting out of the water.
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E disse a mim mesmo:
"Sem chance de você sair do mar.
07:15
You traveled all this way, and this is
exactly what you've been waiting for:
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Você viajou tudo isso,
e é exatamente o que você desejava:
07:19
freezing cold conditions
with perfect waves.
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condições congelantes e ondas perfeitas."
07:21
And although I couldn't even feel
my finger to push the trigger,
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E apesar de não sentir o dedo
para pressionar o disparador,
07:24
I knew I wasn't getting out.
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eu sabia que não iria sair.
07:26
So I just did whatever I could.
I shook it off, whatever.
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Então fiz o que dava para fazer.
07:28
But that was the point that I felt
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Mas foi nesse momento que senti
07:30
this wind gush through
the valley and hit me,
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o vento soprar forte
pelo vale e me atingir,
07:32
and what started as this light snowfall
quickly became a full-on blizzard,
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e o que começou como uma neve fina
logo se tornou uma nevasca,
07:38
and I started to lose
perception of where I was.
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e comecei a perder a percepção
de onde estava.
Não sabia se estava sendo levado
para alto-mar ou para a costa,
07:42
I didn't know if I was drifting
out to sea or towards shore,
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07:46
and all I could really make out
was the faint sound of seagulls
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e tudo o que eu conseguia perceber
era o som fraco das gaivotas
07:50
and crashing waves.
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e ondas quebrando.
Eu sabia que esse lugar tinha reputação
de afundar navios e aviões,
07:52
Now, I knew this place had a reputation
for sinking ships and grounding planes,
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07:57
and while I was out there floating,
I started to get a little bit nervous.
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e enquanto estava lá boiando
comecei a ficar um pouco nervoso.
08:02
Actually, I was totally freaking out --
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Na verdade, estava totalmente em pânico
08:04
(Laughter) -- and I was
borderline hypothermic,
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e estava ficando hipotérmico,
08:08
and my friends eventually
had to help me out of the water.
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e meus amigos acabaram tendo
que me ajudar a sair da água.
08:11
And I don't know if it was
delirium setting in or what,
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E não sei se estava delirando ou o quê,
08:14
but they told me later
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mas depois eles me disseram
08:16
I had a smile on my face the entire time.
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que mantive um sorriso no rosto
o tempo todo.
Bem, foi nessa viagem
08:22
Now, it was this trip
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e provavelmente nessa experiência
em que comecei realmente a sentir
08:24
and probably that exact experience
where I really began to feel
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08:28
like every photograph was precious,
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que cada foto era preciosa
08:32
because all of a sudden in that moment,
it was something I was forced to earn.
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porque, de repente, naquele momento,
era algo que fui forçado a conseguir.
E percebi, todo esse tremor
realmente me ensinou algo:
08:37
And I realized, all this shivering
had actually taught me something:
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08:42
In life, there are no shortcuts to joy.
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na vida não há atalhos para o prazer.
Qualquer coisa que valha a pena conquistar
vai requerer sofrimento,
08:47
Anything that is worth pursuing
is going to require us to suffer
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08:50
just a little bit,
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só um pouquinho,
08:52
and that tiny bit of suffering
that I did for my photography,
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e esse pouquinho de sofrimento
que tive pela fotografia,
08:56
it added a value to my work
that was so much more meaningful to me
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agregou um valor ao meu trabalho
muito mais significativo para mim
08:59
than just trying to fill
the pages of magazines.
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do que apenas preencher
as páginas das revistas.
09:03
See, I gave a piece of myself
in these places,
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Vejam, deixei uma parte de mim mesmo
nesses lugares,
09:10
and what I walked away with
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e o que levei de lá
09:12
was a sense of fulfillment
I had always been searching for.
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foi um sentimento de satisfação
que sempre busquei.
09:18
So I look back at this photograph.
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Então volto a essa foto.
09:21
It's easy to see frozen fingers
and cold wetsuits
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É fácil ver os dedos congelados
e a roupa de neoprene congelada
09:26
and even the struggle
that it took just to get there,
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e até a luta que foi para chegar lá,
09:29
but most of all,
what I see is just joy.
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mas acima de tudo,
o que vejo é pura alegria.
Muito obrigado.
09:33
Thank you so much.
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(Aplausos)
09:35
(Applause)
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Translated by Viviane Ferraz Matos
Reviewed by Maricene Crus

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Chris Burkard - Surf photographer
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.

More profile about the speaker
Chris Burkard | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

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