Through The Lens: Chris Burkard + Fjällräven

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Fjällräven’s history dates back to the 1950s, when Swedish outdoor enthusiast Åke Nordin decided to create a wood-framed backpack to more easily distribute weight during long mountain treks. The design quickly caught on and in 1960, Fjällräven became the first company to commercially produce and distribute backpacks. Fast-forward to 2014 and Fjällräven has just launched its first North American advertising campaign, photographed and filmed by renowned artist and outdoorsman Chris Burkard.

Chris’s stills and videos highlight the brand’s Fall/Winter 2014 collection of functional and timeless outdoor products, as well as some iconic Pacific Northwest locales, including La Push Beach, the Hoh River and the forests of Oregon and Washington. The marriage of Chris’s artistry, Fjällräven’s character and the PNW setting definitely makes this campaign extraordinary. Chris said, “For me, the Pacific Northwest embodies the American spirit of adventure. Its autumnal scene was a prime location to bring Fjällräven heritage and outdoor gear to product-test and photograph on U.S. soil. Amongst this landscape, its water features and its rainforest, it set the perfect backdrop to inspire anyone to want to get out and explore.”

We love Fjällräven’s new campaign because Chris Burkard accurately captures the brand’s ability to inspire the modern adventurers, a group of explorers who opt to travel in backcountry conditions, using DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes and Land Rovers, discovering the “undiscoverable.”

Browse through our gallery below to see some of Chris’s awesome shots from the campaign, and be sure to check out Fjällräven’s Vimeo page to view all three F/W ’14 films!

XX SYDNEY