Chris Burkard - Wayward: Stories and Photographs

Editor: Garrett McGrath
Design Director: Michael Goesele
Designer: Mike Bessire
Design Manager: Eli Mock
Managing Editor: Lisa Silverman
Production Manager: Larry Pekarek

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931060

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3276-8
eISBN: 978-1-64700-187-2

Text and photographs copyright 2021 Chris Burkard

Cover 2021 Abrams

Published in 2021 by Abrams, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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CHAPTER 1
California, 2006

CHAPTER 2
Middle East, Australia, 2007

CHAPTER 3
Canada, Iceland, 20072009

CHAPTER 4
Chile, Russia, 20092010

CHAPTER 5
Japan, 20102011

CHAPTER 6
Norway, 2012

CHAPTER 7
Russia, 20122013

CHAPTER 8
The Aleutian Islands, 2013

CHAPTER 9
California, Oregon, Vancouver, 2015

CHAPTER 10
Iceland, 2016

The view I had from behind the counter at Esquire News made it the perfect spot to daydream about surf. Even though I could barely make out the west swell as it was sculpted by the clean offshore winds, it was just the right anglewhich is probably why my casual minimum-wage summer job transitioned into a fall job, and then an early winter job. I was nineteen years old, living in a small beach town called Pismo Beach, about thirteen miles south of San Luis Obispo, on the central California coast. I was taking a handful of forgettable core classes at Cuesta Community College, but what I really lived for was chasing swell around SLO county with a camera in my hand and a vague dream of somehow making a living taking photos. I had convinced myself that in my spare time between taking classes and shooting photos, my time would be best spent surrounding myself with the magazines that immortalized the type of photos I aspired to takeSurfer, National Geographic, Outside, to name a few.

Between dreaming about the surf and occasionally ringing up a customer, I would picture myself on the white sand beaches of those remote, distant shores. I figured that the more time I spent reading and absorbing these magazines, the closer I would get to actually being there, and shooting those photos I was pretty naive.

In reality, the more time I spent in class, or sitting behind the counter at the newsstand, the more time I was spending away from the waves, and the more angst I felt toward anything that took me away from my newfound dream. My newfound purpose. More than anything else in my life, I knew one thing: Photography had become more than just a hobby. It was my passion. And I knew this because regardless of the absolute lack of job opportunities, or even the basic knowledge of how to use my camera, I was still completely dedicated to making it work. I had to. I was impatient and ignorant, but also hopeful. And once I knew what I wanted, nothing was going to get in my way.

To be specific, the dream was to be a surf photographer. But that wasand still isa wildly misunderstood career path. It was not about hanging out on tropical beaches getting a tan. It was about chasing long-period swells around the globe with athletes of the highest caliber, while pushing my mind and body to wield a camera in big surf, while going toe-to-toe with some of the worlds most challenging waves. It was also about knowing which lens, camera, and settings were right to capture waves of unparalleled excellence, worthy of publishing in the handful of magazines that featured surf content. Then there was the unicorn of job titles: staff photographer. There were probably about thirty people in the entire world making a living as a surf photographer. I, on the other hand, didnt even yet own a passport, let alone a good enough camera to produce an image worthy of a double-page spread. The likelihood of seeing this dream realized was not unlike that of winning the lottery.

But odds didnt matter to me. I felt the calling and, one way or another, I was going to make a living with my camera by my side. I had no backup plan. I began my career like a lot of photographers: senior class photos, weddings, interior photos of my friends local skate shopif it paid, I was in. I needed to first just prove to myself, my parents, and my girlfriend at the time that this was real and worth it. That I was worth it.

This book is a collection of stories that chronicle my journey. It recounts spectacular failures and naivete, as well as minor miracles and victories. After trying to prove myself to my friends and family, I decided it was time to test myself. I embarked on what remains one of my most defining adventures, surveying the surf of the entire California Coast, which eventually became my first book. Inevitably, the adventures became bigger and bolder, until I sort of established myself as a photographer operating on the fringes, capturing images in places that were difficult to get to, challenging to surf, and even more challenging to photograph. At remote beaches in places like Iceland and the Aleutian Islands, I succumbed to hypothermia, destroyed thousands of dollars worth of camera gear, and spent a few nights in jail. But I also scored some amazing imagessome that have even become iconic. Equally valuable to me are the memories.

I have now made a living as a photographer for more than a decade. However, most of my stories and experiences have been expressed through someone elses lensa talented journalist, an editor at a magazine, brand photo editors. Ive always wanted to recount these adventures in my own words, dig up the images that I connected with, and share some behind-the-scenes anecdotes about how those images came to be. These are my stories, in my own words.