🎬 Apply now! For SSP Africa 2026

Andrew Burton

(he/him/his)
Director / DP / Editor / Producer
Seattle, Washington United States
Available for Freelance
Open To Virtual Coffee
I’m an award-winning documentary filmmaker, photographer and journalist who is especially interested in the intersection of environmentalism, social issues and exploration.

About

Andrew Burton (b. 1987 / USA / He, Him) is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, documentary filmmaker, photographer and journalist focused on the intersection of environmentalism and exploration. He is a former fellow at the University of California, Berkeley's Investigative Reporting Program . Burton's first feature film, Newtok, was acquired and released by Patagonia Films . Co-directed by Burton and Michael Kirby Smith, the film was named one of the best documentaries of the year by Esquire Magazine, premiered at DocNYC and on Big Sky Film Festival’s “Big Sky Award.” Burton’s documentary film credits as a director of photography and camera operator include Thoughts and Prayers (HBO, release 2026), Life After life (release 2026), South Sound (release 2027), Flight Path (release 2027), The Badwater (release 2026) and King of Snakes (release TBD), amongst others. As a documentary editor, his film credits include Disrupted (2025), Taras (2025), and When They’re Dead and Gone (release 2026), amongst others. Burton's photographic work has been honored by: Pulitzer Prize; Photographer of the Year International; Sundance Institute; American Photography; PDN Photo Annual; Sony World Photo Awards; Jonathan Logan Family Foundation; Museum of New York; Fund for Investigative Journalism; The Hearst Foundation; Society of Professional Journalists; Lumix Photo Festival; China International Press Photo Contest; New York Press Photographer's Association; College Photographer of the Year and Oregon Newspaper Publisher’s Association. Burton has worked both as a staff photojournalist for Getty Images as well as a contract filmmaker and photographer covering breaking news and long-term stories locally, nationally and internationally. He has been a Carnegie-Knight News21 fellowand was a student at Eddie Adams XXII. He has received first aid training for combat and wilderness wounds through Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC), Global Journalist Security and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Burton has a degree in journalism with a focus in photography from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Select Corporate Clients Patagonia Microsoft Starbucks Amazon The North Face Black Diamond Honnold Foundation Fjallraven Visura University of Washington University of Minnesota Select Editorial Clients The New York Times National Geographic New Yorker Time Magazine Washington Post The Guardian Wall Street Journal Getty Images Associated Press Reuters Bloomberg