Meet the Artist
Clint Burkinshaw
Clint Burkinshaw grew up in South Australia, spending most of his time engrossed in sport and the beach. That was until he started looking elsewhere to expand his experience from the life he was familiar and content with, and turned to a map of the world. He was not a hundred percent sure yet of what he was to get from it. But in 2005 he tested the waters by taking off for several months and headed towards Europe, where he hit the road and backpacked through well over a dozen countries before returning home. Little did he know, this was just the tip of the iceberg and just a taste of what was in store for him.
Before he had even left Europe, he’d been bitten by something far stronger than the standard travel-bug. His desire for exploration and the open road had grew inside to the point where once he returned home to be amongst everything familiar, nothing felt the same. While his surroundings had not changed, he had.
Having new horizons and dreams, Clint gazed back at the same map with even greater intent. Knowing exactly what he must do, he gathered up as much money as he could, sold his belongings and left everything behind for a more challenging and rewarding experience to satisfy his inner urge of adventure …a one way ticket to Latin America and beyond. Taking off in December 2007, Clint spent a year drifting around the continent falling even more in love with life on the road. This journey ultimately changed his aspirations and way of life that concreted a new direction that he was already living and forever to pursue…
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us
– Anonymous
Inevitably, the time came for Clint to bid a sad farewell to South America – a place that will forever hold a special place in his heart. A land full of hardship, struggle, passion and beauty. For over a year in a port in the southern United Kingdom, Clint travelled in and out of Europe to those yet to have reached countries. Then again scraped together as much as he could before returning to Australia – the longer way, several months braving the never ending deserts across Sahara Africa and the Middle-East. An incredible journey!
Finally having returned home from years on the road, he once again took to a map and planned his most daring adventure yet. Trading a bus, train and the odd back of a truck for a bicycle. Shabby beds, rooftops and the odd hammock for a tent and sleeping bag. His beloved backpack for a bunch of bike panniers. He navigated several thousand miles across the European continent, from London to Athens, during the middle of one of Europe’s coldest winters on record …on a bicycle!
Braving the mountains, snow, ice and never ending roads, Clint made it back to Australia. But to no surprise, within a few months he’d already had himself another one-way ticket. So as 2012 came to a close, Clint once again up and left it all behind. With his favourite backpack back on his shoulders where it belongs, he circumnavigated west around the globe for a year and a half through Asia, Africa and Latin America, with a special surprise of eloping to his wife 5,400m up in the middle of a three week trek in the Himalayas.
Normally you would think that after an 18 month stint of solid travelling, he would have had enough for a while. But it wasn’t long until he was back cycling across Europe again. But this time in a balmy summer, from Estonia to France. Once having crossed that finish line, he swapped the bicycle for a car, and road tripped it around the Balkans for a month, before spending 3 months camping around the Arctic, chasing the Aurora Borealis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Travel Photography mean to me?
To me, travel photography transcends just “landscape” or “portrait” photography. It’s about capturing and documenting that distant place in a single frame, pulling the viewer into the shot, making them wish that they were there. A good travel photo will be more than just a slice of time captured in a single moment, it will tell a story and convey emotion. To me, Travel Photography is a source of inspiration and driver to see and experience the best our world has to offer. Subsequently, it brings out the best in me.
How do I afford it?
To sound cliché and answer as simple as possible; essentially I work and save my butt off to save as much $$ as possible, and I then live as cheap as I conceivably can (both when travelling and when not). That, and the fact that I’m lucky enough to have been born in a country with the freedom and economy to allow me to have such an opportunity. So, there’s no real trick to it.
The main difference between myself and the majority of people who earn a similar wage, but still seem baffled by how I save the amount I do, is that my definition of what is a need and what is a want, is quite different from theirs. In addition, my definition of what reasonable accommodation and transport is while travelling, is also quite different. Combine these aspects together, and the answer starts becoming more apparent.
Traditionally, when I’m not travelling, I’m working my butt away in a 8-5 job (in the field of I.T.), and work on photography with all of my spare time.
Why travel so much?
When people hear of how long each of my travel stints have gone for (often a year or longer), and how many stints I’ve had, they often ask me; “why on earth do you travel so much?”, or “do you ever get sick of it?”. The short answer to this is that I absolutely LOVE travelling. It changed my life in the most positive way. If I could have the last 15 years over, I wouldn’t change a single thing!
Ever since I first stepped foot off Australia soil, I’ve never looked back and have been obsessed with exploring this world ever since. To me, life should be an adventure, and living life on the road has very much given me that and shaped who I am today.
Now, with my love for photography, I’m always wanting to explore and document the next jaw-dropping landscape that’s hiding around the corner.
Where have I been?
13 Years, 83 Countries, 6 Continents
Countries in alphabetical order (* Denotes additional visits)
Albania*, Argentina**, Australia, Austria**, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia**, Costa Rica, Croatia***, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England*****, Estonia**, Ethiopia, Finland, France***, Germany*, Greece*, Guatemala*, Holland / The Netherlands, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland*, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy*, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan*, Kenya, Laos, Latvia*, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia*, Mexico*, Monaco*, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru*, Poland*, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia*, Spain, Sudan, Sweden*, Switzerland**, Tanzania, Thailand*, The Vatican, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela*, Vietnam, Wales
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