For the past three years, I have been fortunate enough to attend all three Sony Alpha Kando events. What started as a small gathering of creatives in a wild canyon tucked into the rugged California coast quickly expanded to a massive event last year in Bend, Oregon complete with hot air balloon rides, scenic flights over the Oregon Wilderness, and creative meet and greets at a private air strip. And that is what Kando is all about. Meeting fellow creatives that help inspire your passion and fuel your creativity. And some of these fellow creatives have some pretty impressive follower counts and resumes, with clients like the one and only National Geographic. Unfortunately, with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, this years in person Kando gathering has had to become virtual. But fear not. There is still going to be plenty of awesome speakers, classes, and community. Sign up for Kando Everywhere (August 15-16) and get face to face (virtually, of course) with some of the industries best photographers and filmmakers.
So when you have so many inspiring creatives, how do you harness their wise words of wisdom and experience their intense travel stories without ever forgetting it? You sit them down in front of the lights, press record on your Sony Alpha A7rIII and let them talk.
I am happy to introduce a new limited series on my YouTube channel called ‘A Kando Conversation.’ And I am lucky to have the first episode feature my friend Chris Burkard, who has been a constant source of inspiration for me ever since I watched him work his magic in Norway as we made a film documenting surfing in the Arctic.
Obviously, most of you reading this know Chris Burkard. But if you don’t, or even if you do, I really think his wise words in this interview are worth hearing. Of course, there is also plenty of Chris’ incredible imagery to accompany the story. Even though you will watch the interview, I talk about the 14 quotes that really resonated with me.
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel to be notified when I upload the rest of the Kando Conversations series. Future guests include Renan Ozturk, Ben Lowy, Pete McBride, Bob Krist, Andy Best, Renee and Matthew Hahnel, Elizabeth Gadd, Colby Brown, David McLain and Ben Moon.
So let’s get to it and check out the 14 most inspiring quotes from Chris Burkard in his ‘A Kando Conversation’ interview.
“There is some sense of feeling completely alive when you are kind of living on the fringes of your own creativity.”
Burkard jumps out of the gate with a bang. Creativity is fleeting. It comes and goes, but one thing is certain. When that creativity strikes, it is euphoric. And Chris is spot on. It’s a feeling that makes you know that you are alive, as there is always a way to be more creative, and that knowledge inspires us to get grinding.
“This camera….it could me more. It could be more than a tool to document friends. It could be a way to see the world.”
Early on in his life, Burkard’s love of photography turned into a passion for travel. It’s obvious they are connected. Burkard talks about how he always had a desire to see the world, to see what was beyond the borders of the small central California coastal town that he grew up in. But it seems the trigger to take that action wasn’t embedded in Burkard’s personality until he began documenting his friends and his life on the California coast. This small passion of photographing his home was the push that he needed to start seeing the world. The rest is history.
“I was scared. I was nervous. I totally filtered a lot of really incredible experiences through my camera. It inhibited me from experiencing some really special things. I wish I would have experienced first, and shot second.”
This is a powerful theme that Burkard touches on early and discusses throughout his stream of consciousness. He talks about being so consumed to ‘get the shot’ that he let the unique experiences unfolding in front of him pass by. It’s a very important statement. I often still find myself more consumed with getting the shot than truly embracing the moments that I am lucky enough to experience. Knowing that this has happened to a photographer as successful as Chris Burkard gives hope to the rest of us that we can slow down and stop and smell the roses once in a while.
“First, I want to experience places. Second, I want to photograph them.“
This is an important reminder to live the experience first and foremost, and the photos come naturally. If you are able to harness this lesson, documenting those experiences should almost become a subconscious action.
“We have spent weeks, months, and years planning, and we got there, and it was nothing like it was intended.”
Burkard’s Instagram feed looks like he lives a perfect, action packed life non-stop. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Burkard works hard, and he plans his projects and shoots methodically. But, even with all that talent, creativity, and planning, things can go wrong. I actually randomly hung out with Chris in Patagonia in the middle of one of these exact moments. When Burkard talks about the trials he experienced while filming ‘Under an Arctic Sky’ he drives the point home that it’s all worth it if you can work through the frustrations and keep your eye on the prize.
“It wasn’t the story we had hoped for, but in a way, it was more interesting because all of that happened the way it did.”
Believe it or not, this quote isn’t in relation to his wet, windy and miserable experience in Patagonia. Nor is it about the stress of filming ‘Under an Arctic Sky.’ It is actually a story that starts with Burkard spending 24 hours in a Russian jail cell. In the end, the lost time threw off his plans for a magazine shoot under a tight deadline. Burkard comes back with a story, all right. It may not have been the story he had envisioned but if you embrace the chaos, you can come out with a more interesting story than you were in search of.
“To embark on this nomadic lifestyle, it’s a challenging and lonely place to be.”
Like Burkard said, it’s not all fun and games living the life of a globe-trotting photographer. Even the most seasoned, successful digital nomads experience the challenges and feel lonliness. But Burkard’s life isn’t as nomadic as you think. He talks about being grounded, learning how to turn off that inner nomad and recharge his batteries with his family at home in between his nomadic projects.
“What am I doing when I am out in the world to become a better person?”
Burkard openly questions whether his work, and what he has learned on his life long journey, has made him a better person. It’s a fair question, and in the crazy state of the world right now, one we should probably all be asking ourselves. We should be using our experiences to help educate others, fight for causes we believe in an attempt to leave the world a better place than when we came into it.
Burkard jokes that maybe, after all of that, maybe he isn’t a better person after all. Somehow, I don’t believe that.
“Nobody is going to make this happen, except for me.“
Burkard is referencing working through the challenges and completing his film, ‘Under an Arctic Sky,’ but this quote applies to all of us, creatives or not, with anything we tackle in this life. No one can do it for us. Only we, ourselves, can make our dreams a reality. Fight the battle, smack yourself silly, and get grinding.
“You know what the funny thing is? I don’t know where my next paycheck is coming from.”
Yes, Burkard is successful. But he faces the same exact problem that every other independent creative faces. Jobs come, jobs go. When it rains it pours. And when it doesn’t rain? You find yourself living in a damn desert. Being an independent is scary, challenging and often, not very financially viable, but as Burkard states, he would rather be broke and creative than working behind a desk.
“The amount of grit that goes into creating a career like this…it’s overwhelming.”
Preach on brother. The life of an independent creative, especially one who spends more time away from home than actually at home, is challenging, and quite frankly, hard as hell. It’s not for everyone. But for those with true grit, the rewards are life-changing. I struggle with this frequently. I know, deep down, I HAVE the grit it takes. But I can’t always channel it. I go through stages. I am quite happy with my life and career I have, but what could I be if that well of grit and determination was never dry, always flowing? Who knows, but looking at the grit Burkard has is an inspiration to all of us.
“The ability to make a living with what you can create with your own two hands…there is no better feelings.”
Not much to add to this one. It ties in with most of Burkard’s quotes above. For those of us lucky enough to pay our bills by doing what we love, there really is no better feeling.
“I wish I had journaled more.”
Burkard laughs heartily when he says this quote, but you can tell in the sentences preceding and following that he really does wish that he had. Burkard talks about how he has focused so much of his creativity into creating the visuals, he struggles to remember the feelings that accompanied those moments when the shutter was clicked. He truley believes that writing about those experiences, as they were fresh in his mind, would have made him a more well rounded creator and helped him re-tell the parts of the story that the photo itself simply cannot.
“The thing that has always struck me the most about travel is humanity. The people. But that’s the photo that keeps me up at night.”
Burkard talks about the one image that he feels shows his true passion for travel and photography. And surprisingly, it’s not one of his epic shots that you may think he would choose. In fact, knowing Chris for over 8 years, I was shocked to hear his answer, and even more shocked to have never had seen the photo before. The story and the photo itself are very powerful and shows that, at the end of the day, the lessons Chris Burkard has learned a long the way have had a big impact on who he is. He really is, after all, always becoming a better person.
See more from Chris Burkard on his website, Facebook, and Instagram.
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