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Chris Bray

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Chris Bray (born 21 June 1983) is an Australian nature photographer, award-winning explorer, entrepreneur and author. He grew up sailing around the world with his family for 5 years from age 5 until 10. He was awarded Australian Geographic Society’s Young Adventurer of the Year medal in 2004 for a remote untracked hike in SW Tasmania with companion Jasper Timm.

At 25 years old Chris became the youngest international fellow of The Explorers Club in 2005 (then chairman of the Australia and New Zealand chapter) for the first of his two world-first cart-hauling expeditions across Victoria Island in the Canadian arctic (2005 and 2008) with companion Clark Carter, about which he wrote the best-selling book ’1000 hour day' which also became a multi-award-winning documentary film ’The Crossing’.

Graduating from Electrical Engineering in 2007, Chris became an Geographic photographer in 2009 (the first photographer they ever sent on assignment overseas, to PNG in 2009) and Canon’s Australian Ambassador for 5 years. He started ‘Chris Bray Photography’ in 2009 running 1 day photography courses around Australia which then became Australia’s largest photo tour company in 2012, helping guests photograph wildlife around the world. Chris later released his photography course as a set of free videos on YouTube which collectively accumulated over 5,000,000 views, making it one of the world’s most-watched photography courses.

Together with his then wife Jess Bray (now divorced), he rebuilt a 29-foot wooden junk-rigged sailboat ’Teleport’ which they sailed through the Northwest Passage over the northern summers of 2011-2012 - the first junk-rig ever to do so, and the youngest couple, chronicled in an online YouTube series.

In 2017 Chris and Jess moved to Christmas Island and built the luxury eco-accommodation 'Swell Lodge’ - the first ecologically sustainable accommodation inside a federal national park in Australia. Chris became a Lumix Global Ambassador in 2019 and also sits on the advisory committee for the Australian Geographic Society, and founded the global conservation charity ‘Conservation United’.

Early Life

Christopher Andrew Bray was born on June 21st, 1983 in Sydney, Australia to parents and grew up sailing around the world for 5 years with his family (Parents Andrew and Victoria Bray and sister Sarah Bray) aboard their homemade sailboat ‘Starship’ from when Chris was age 5 until 10, returning in late 1993.

Education

Chris was homeschooled for the first 5 years of his schooling by his mother, Victoria Bray, while sailing around the world. The schoolwork was provided by a school of distance education in Queensland, however with no fixed address for post, they were not able to correspond, and simply read through the notes and completed the exercises.

Chris attended Avalon Public School for his final 2 years of primary school (1994-1995) where he was awarded Dux of the school. He then attended Barrenjoey High (public) School (1996-2001), where he was also awarded Dux of the school with a UAI (University Admission Index) of 99.2% - a record for the school.

Chris was awarded a Co-op Scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at the University of NSW which he graduated with first class honours in 2007 and awards including the Jacobs Australia Engineering Leadership Prize.

Expeditions

Tasmania’s South-West

In February-March 2003 Chris chartered a floatplane to drop him and his friend Jasper Timm into the remote James Kelley Basin in Port Davey, from where the pair hiked out to Strahan through 300km of Tasmania’s untracked south-western wilderness. The journey included two airdrops of supplies and was sponsored by several organisations including Australian Geographic, which awarded them both the Australian Geographic Society’s Young Adventurer of the Year medal in 2004.

Canadian Arctic: Crossing Victoria Island

Together with companion Clark Carter, Chris organised and lead ‘The 1000 Hour Day Expedition’ to become the first people to walk the 1,000 km across Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic - the world’s 9th largest island. The pair towed all their food and supplies behind them in home-made, purpose built Paddleable Amphibious Carts (PACs) across the arctic tundra.

The journey was completed in two parts, the first 58 days unsupported in 2005, and another 75 days unsupported in 2008.

It was sponsored by various companies including iiNet, Ocean Frontiers [1], Australian Geographic, GORE-TEX, Air Canada, Citizen Watches, Asus, Paddy Pallin, Leatherman, GMN, Dick Smith Foods and more.

The journey earned the pair Australian Geographic Society’s ‘Spirit of Adventure’ medal in 2008.

Chris wrote a successful book about the adventure ‘The 1000 Hour Day’ and their video footage was turned into a feature-length documentary ‘The Crossing’ which won the people’s choice award in the 2013 Sydney Film Festival, as well as ‘Best Documentary’, and was selected for various international film festivals including the European Outdoor Film Tour (2012-13) and NZ Mountain Film Festival 2013. The movie was screened in mainstream cinemas around Australia.

This adventure was the subject of a popular 1-hour ABC radio interview podcast ‘Conversations with Richard Fidler’: Adventurer Chris Bray took on an epic Canadian ice-trek

Arctic: Northwest Passage Sailing

Over the Northern summer of 2010, Chris and his partner Jess rebuilt an old, rotten 29-foot junk-rigged sailboat (A North Atlantic 29, designed by Angus Primrose and Blondie Hasler) in Halifax which they renamed ‘Teleport’. They chronicled the whole rebuild and subsequent voyage in a series of YouTube videos online and gained a global following.

In the Northern summer of 2011, Chris and Jess sailed up the east coast of Canada and across to SW Greenland, getting caught in a Force-12 storm part way across. They continued up the west coast of Greenland and across to Baffin Island and through the first half of the Northwest Passage, wintering the boat frozen on a hillside on Victoria Island.

In 2012 they returned and when the sea ice melted re-launched the boat and sailed onwards west through the rest if the Northwest Passage, across the top of Canada and Alaska, down through the Bering Strait to Nome, Alaska.

Over the following 3 northern summers, they returned and sailed Teleport onwards along the rest of the Alaskan coastline down to Prince Rupert, Canada, where they left and eventually sold Teleport.

This adventure was the subject of a second popular 1-hour ABC radio interview podcast ‘Conversations with Richard Fidler’: Adventurers Chris Bray and Jess Taunton sail to Alaska

Business Ventures

Chris Bray Photography

Already Canon’s Australian Ambassador and an Australian Geographic photographer, Chris founded ‘Chris Bray Photography Pty Ltd’ in 2009, initially running 1-day photography courses around Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and even overseas in New Zealand), initially just with his partner Jess, but eventually bringing on other staff to run and assist with the courses from each state.

In February 2010 Chris Bray Photography ran its first photography tour, taking 8 guests to Tasmania. This side of the business grew rapidly and by 2012, it became Australia’s largest photo tour company, annually running small-group, luxury photo tours to many of the world’s best wildlife destinations including Kenya, Alaska, Galapagos, The Amazon, Iceland, Greenland, Antarctica, Patagonia, Namibia, Botswana, Norway, Kangaroo Island, Christmas Island and more.

In 2016 Chris filmed his 1-day photography course and put it online for free as a series of 10 YouTube videos, which together have accumulated more than 5 million views, making it one of the world’s most-watched photography courses.

In 2019 Chris became a Lumix global ambassador.

Swell Lodge

In 2016 the Australian Government put out a call for expressions of interest for anyone interested to establish an accomodation venture inside the National Park on Christmas Island. Having run photography tours to Christmas Island every May since 2013 and not only in love with the island but aware of the current lack of luxury or eco-accomodation, Chris submitted his vision for Swell Lodge. Later in the year his application was given preliminary approval, and entered the next stage of detailed design, independent environmental impact assessments which included flora and fauna surveys by ecologists by day and night, and the concept and location for Swell Lodge was ultimately approved.

In 2017 Chris and Jess moved to Christmas Island and commenced building the first of two glass-fronted, solar-powered, luxury eco-chalets on the sea cliff on the island’s uninhabited west coast in September 2017. Every piece had to be brought in by ship, driven down a 4WD track and then carried by hand in the 100m walking trail to the site. They built it themselves with the help of friends who flew in to help volunteer (and using local trades where required by law for example electrical solar power systems etc). The first eco-chalet opened in June 2018 to international acclaim, and the second a year later in mid 2019.

The COVID-19 global pandemic forced the shutdown of Swell Lodge for 6 months in 2020, but it re-opened mid 2020.

Charities

Conservation United

Chris Bray is founder and CEO of Conservation United, a startup aiming to help crowd-fund the world’s critical conservation projects. While still under development, the charity is registered in every state of Australia and nationally, and has notable figures including Bob Brown and Chrissie Goldrick as early ambassadors.

Awards & Recognitions

Dux of both Primary (1995) and High (2001) School. UNSW Co-op Scholarship 2002-06. Australian Geographic Society's 'Young Adventurer of the Year' medal in 2004. International Fellow of The Explorers Club from 2005. Explorers Club Flag Award 2005. Jacobs Australia Engineering Leadership Prize 2006. Australian Geographic Society's 'Spirit of Adventure' medal in 2009. First person (with Clark Carter) to walk across Victoria Island 2005-08. Chairman of the Australia and New Zealand chapter of The Explorers Club 2010-13. First person (with Jess Bray) to sail a junk-rigged sailboat through the Northwest Passage (2010-11). Australian Geographic Society Trustee, then Advisory Committee member - current.

Books

● Bray, C., 2010. 1000 hour day. Sydney: Murdoch Books.] http://www.1000hourday.com/

● Bray, C., 2018. Photography Handbook: Digital photography made easy!. Christmas Island.

● Bray, C., 2018. 14 Indoor Photography Projects. Christmas Island.