Chris Burkard: The joy of surfing in ice-cold water
Chris Burkard: A alegria de surfar em água gelada
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,
era a cara de felicidade pura,
Arctic selfie, I shiver just a little bit.
do Ártico, fico um pouco arrepiado.
a little bit about this photograph.
acerca desta fotografia.
in the Lofoten Islands in Norway,
nas Ilhas Lofoten, na Noruega,
right at freezing.
de 10 graus negativos.
trying to leave my hands,
a tentar sair das minhas mãos,
to protect my vital organs.
a proteger os meus órgãos vitais.
and cheeks flushed red,
olhos encovados e bochechas vermelhas,
is somewhere I can find great joy.
eu posso encontrar muita felicidade.
psychologist Brock Bastian
o psicólogo Brock Bastian
quando escreveu:
to mindfulness.
para atingir a plenitude.
of everything in the environment.
of the world much like meditation."
tal como na meditação."
then I would consider myself a monk.
então eu considerar-me-ia um monge.
in freezing cold water?
na água gelada?
a little perspective
we were hoping for good waves,
that was going to happen.
que isso pudesse acontecer.
surf photographer, right?
if it's a real job title, to be honest.
para ser honesto.
que ia deixar o meu emprego
my job to pursue this dream career:
and a tan that lasts all year long.
e um bronzeado que dura todo o ano.
Life could not get any better.
Nada na vida podia ser melhor.
in these exotic tourist destinations.
para esses destinos turísticos exóticos.
to these exotic locations,
a viajar para esses lugares exóticos,
and what I was finding was only routine.
estava a encontrar era apenas rotina.
and a constant cellular connection
finos e uma ligação telemóvel constante
de sítios cheios de turistas
of places heavily touristed
for me to start feeling suffocated.
até sentir-me sufocado.
locais abertos.
others had written off
que se diziam ser
and too dangerous to surf,
e demasiado perigosos para o "surf".
against the mundane,
contra o mundano
one thing I've realized,
de que me apercebi,
as surf photography,
como a de fotógrafo surfista,
this monotony, I realized something:
essa monotonia, apercebi-me duma coisa:
of the Earth's oceans that are warm,
da Terra são quentes.
around the equator.
à volta do Equador.
as ondas perfeitas,
to happen somewhere cold,
num sítio frio,
que eu comecei a olhar.
à Islândia em que me senti
exactly what I was looking for.
aquilo que eu procurava.
by the natural beauty of the landscape,
natural da paisagem.
we were finding perfect waves
que estávamos a encontrar ondas perfeitas
part of the world.
distante e acidentada.
had piled on the shoreline.
empilhados na costa.
between us and the surf,
como num labirinto,
through this thing like a maze
trying to get into waves.
para tentar entrar nas ondas.
one I'll never forget,
que nunca esquecerei,
one of the last quiet places,
num dos últimos locais tranquilos,
and a connection with the world
e uma ligação com o mundo
on a crowded beach.
numa praia apinhada.
na minha mente.
and unforgiving environments,
nesse tipo de ambientes agressivos,
Norway, Alaska, Iceland, Chile,
a Noruega, o Alasca, a Islândia, o Chile,
and a lot of places in between.
about these places
nesses locais
the creativity it took just to get there:
a criatividade necessários para lá chegar:
passadas no Google Earth
of beach or reef we could actually get to.
ou recife onde pudéssemos chegar.
the vehicles were just as creative:
os veículos também eram criativos:
Soviet troop carriers,
soviéticas de seis rodas,
helicopter flights.
assustam-me verdadeiramente.
bumpy boat ride
to this kind of remote surf spot,
até este distante local de "surf",
helplessly from the water
impotentes — da água —
o nosso acampamento.
and bits of our tent,
e bocados da nossa tenda,
were at the bottom of the food chain
no fundo da cadeia alimentar
não o nosso.
I traded for those touristy beaches.
em troca dessas praias turísticas.
to Norway -- (Laughter) --
to appreciate the cold.
aprendi a apreciar o frio.
the most violent storms in the world
e mais violentas tempestades do mundo
into the coastline.
just inside the Arctic Circle.
dentro do Círculo Árctico.
of sheep than people,
maior que a de pessoas.
was nowhere to be found.
não tínhamos forma de obtê-la.
taking pictures of surfers,
you're getting out of the water.
a mínima hipótese de sair da água.
exactly what you've been waiting for:
aquilo de que tens estado à espera:
with perfect waves.
my finger to push the trigger,
para apertar o disparador,
I shook it off, whatever.
Agitei-o, qualquer coisa.
the valley and hit me,
quickly became a full-on blizzard,
numa tempestade de neve.
perception of where I was.
de onde estava.
out to sea or towards shore,
para o mar ou em direção à costa.
was the faint sound of seagulls
era o som das gaivotas
for sinking ships and grounding planes,
de afundar barcos e de despenhar aviões.
I started to get a little bit nervous.
comecei a ficar um pouco nervoso.
borderline hypothermic,
had to help me out of the water.
de ajudar-me a sair da água.
delirium setting in or what,
na cara o tempo inteiro.
where I really began to feel
que eu realmente comecei a sentir
it was something I was forced to earn.
era algo que eu era obrigado a conquistar.
had actually taught me something:
me tinha ensinado uma coisa:
is going to require us to suffer
vai requerer de nós sofrimento,
that I did for my photography,
eu tive para as minhas fotografias,
that was so much more meaningful to me
que me era muito mais precioso
the pages of magazines.
as páginas de revistas.
in these places,
nesses locais.
I had always been searching for.
de que sempre estivera à procura.
and cold wetsuits
e as roupas molhadas
that it took just to get there,
what I see is just joy.
o que eu vejo é apenas felicidade.
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