In 10 days from now, on September 10, I will be launching my debut monograph COIRÓN with my first-ever Solo Exhibition in Amsterdam.

And I would love to invite you all to come and see the work in large display!

Therefore, I’m taking this opportunity to explain a few things about an incredibly exciting 4 days.

On Thursday September 10 is the Official Launch + Opening Reception of the exhibition. This is an ‘invite-only’ event for friends, family, press and early Kickstarter backers of the project.

On September 11, 12 and 13 the gallery will be open for 3 public walk-in days, each day from 10 in the morning till 10 at night.

No invite needed, and everyone is welcome.

During the entire weekend, 26 large-scale works from the project will be on display, and I’ll be in the gallery throughout the entire weekend signing books, and speaking to all of you in person about the creation of this new body of work.

On top of that, each day at 5pm, I will be hosting a ‘Gallery Walk-Through’, together with dear friend and film director Matias Bolla, who will be coming over all the way from Sydney for this special event.

We have worked side by side on this project for the past 6 years, and it will be a unique moment to hear some personal stories behind the creation of the book as well as the film, all while enjoying some great Chilean wines 🍷

For the first time ever, we will also show fragments of the film, to give you a taste of what to expect early 2027.

The location for all of this is:

Galla Studios, Tweede Hugo de Grootstraat 27 in Amsterdam.

So pop in after work on Friday, or bring your friends, or family for a casual visit on Saturday or Sunday morning or afternoon.

Meanwhile, last week 2 huge pallets packed with Kickstarter orders arrived at my home in Haarlem.

This upcoming week, my team and I will be wrapping, signing, printing, packing and shipping 500+ books and 75+ prints. A good share of these books will make its way to Galla Studios for the Exhibition.

Lastly, for those of you who missed it.

Last week COIRÓN was featured by The New Yorker. As a long time reader and admirer, it felt surreal seeing my own work featured there.

You can read the full piece HERE.

I am hoping to see you on September 11, 12 or 13 in Amsterdam!

Love,

Pie

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One of the most asked questions in all my inboxes across multiple platforms, is ‘how do you travel with film across airports and keep it safe?’

After typing the very same answers over and over again, I felt it was time to dedicate a full Substack newsletter to it, and give you 12 EASY HACKS TO KEEP YOUR FILM SAFE!

But first, some house-keeping

• I have just launched a new date for the next Story-telling Masterclass on Saturday November 21 in Amsterdam!

• There’s 1 last seat to join me to SERENGETI, TANZANIA | March 1-9, 2027 on a journey to the nr 1 place in the world to photograph BIG CATS: Namiri Plains in the middle of the GREAT MIGRATION calving season, EPIC!

• Join me to the ICELANDIC HIGHLANDS | August 6-14, 2027 to hike on glaciers & volcanoes, soak in thermal hot springs, stay in the most incredible hotels, and traverse the entire core of Iceland in uniquely modified off-road Monster Jeeps, a WILD adventure!

• I have 1 last-minute seat to Ladakh in September 2026 and to May 2027 on a deeply unique and intimate journey to the Indian Himalayas, a personal FAVOURITE!

• I have also launched new dates for my annual Kenya Expedition 2027, an expedition that always sells out very fast, SO ACT FAST!

See all expeditions here

If you followed my work long enough, you know that most, if not, all my work is shot on film, and the majority of it in some of the most remote corners of our planet.

Therefore, airport security and I have a somewhat complicated relationship.

But let me get you all on the same page first.

Airport scanners and analogue film have the chemistry of oil and water. While the scanner is busy looking for explosives, it’s also blasting your film with enough X-rays to fog it, lower contrast, and turn your carefully exposed photographs into some unplanned abstract art project.

And unlike a scratched lens or a dead battery, x-ray or CT damage is permanent, you won’t know it happened until your film comes back from the lab.

By then, it’s far too late.

That’s why I developed my own routine. Because life in airports is certainly easier if you come prepared.

And I felt sharing it with you could save a lot of rolls, and therefore photographs, memories, and not unimportant: dollars.

It’s a system that keeps things simple, predictable, and as controlled as possible.

While every airport is different (trust me I’ve been through some odd ones), a few habits have helped me protect my film and avoid unnecessary stress along the way.

Therefore I have 12 quick tips for you!

1. Film always stays in my carry-on

Let’s start at the beginning: film never goes in checked luggage.

No matter how many rolls I’m carrying, it always stays with me in my hand luggage. Checked baggage scanners are much stronger and can damage film before you even get to shoot it, which is a very expensive way to learn a lesson.

I once traveled through three American airports in one journey with 650 rolls of film in a hand-luggage trolley. And yes, at all three airports, I managed to get every single roll hand-checked.

But how?

2. Never lose your smile

Let’s start with a general travel advice: carry a smile wherever you go, it opens more doors than any passport ever will.

A friendly attitude and a ‘genuine’ conversation will get you much further than frustration ever will when asking for a hand check of your film. Starting a conversation with an airport security officer with a compliment, might sound corny, but trust me, it works.

3. Always ask for a hand-scan

In recent years, film photographers have had a new concern to think about. More and more airports are introducing CT scanners at carry-on security checkpoints.

Unlike traditional X-ray machines, CT scanners create detailed 3D images by scanning luggage from multiple angles. The result is a significantly higher radiation dose, which can increase the risk of film fogging, loss of shadow detail, and visible grain, even after a single pass.

Because of this, I always ask for a hand-scan. And trust me, every single airport in the world has a hand-scanning device somewhere. Some might tell you they don’t, but they do.

Keep asking, and keep smiling.

4. Get to any airport 4 hours before your flight, and organize yourself!

Time is opportunity.

When approaching a security scanner I’m reading the faces of all officers trying to spot who looks friendly, who looks patient, and who doesn’t. Then I choose my battles accordingly.

I’d say I’m right about 80% of the time. But sometimes, I’m wrong.

I keep all my film in a separate pouch inside my bag so I can remove it quickly during security screening.

If I’m traveling with multiple rolls, which is often the case, I keep them in Tupperware containers. I remove the original boxes and containers, to keep things as clean and organised as possible, and to speed up the inspection process.

Still, there is no universal experience. Depending on the airport, country, or security officer, film may be hand-checked immediately or inspected roll by roll. I’ve had additional screenings take anywhere from a few minutes to nearly half an hour. That’s one of the reasons I always build extra time into my airport routine.

Time pressure and stress to miss your flight is your biggest enemy. It’s also the first reason to stop smiling. And when you lose your smile, you lose your chances of having your film treated the way you want to.

5. Don’t conceal things

Walk around with an open body attitude. And please never, ever conceal things. You’re not illegal, you’re not doing illegal things. Don’t behave like that.

Don’t be nervous, instead be proud. You’re traveling to exciting places to make beautiful work. And to make that work you carry film.

It’s simple, don’t make it complicated.

6. Talk to people about what it is you do

The best advice I can give you is to print a beautiful little booklet or brochure of your best work, and carry it in your hand luggage.

Show it to security officers. It’s a much better way to indicate the importance of not having your work x-rayed, than trying to explain the technical side of things.

Don’t overcomplicate things. Just 10-20 of your best images, A4 or A5 size. Bound in book-form, keep it in your hand luggage trolley at all times.

It will help you on the road in a lot of other situations too.

7. Act informed

I’ve printed notes at home that explain how X-ray or CT damages film. In very simple and easy to understand language. With easy to navigate symbols.

You can find them online everywhere, just Google.

A lot of officers will point at machines carrying stickers that say ‘film-safe’, and then mumble something along the lines of ‘this machine won’t destroy your film’.

Total bullshit.

But don’t tell them that.

Show them the note, translated in the language of the country you’re visiting. Yes, that means I carry these forms in 5-10 different languages. And I translated them myself. They are always with me, inside my bag.

And don’t forget to smile.

8. Know your scanner

When I reach security, I separate all of my film into its own tray, including any cameras that currently have film loaded inside them. Then I ask for a hand-check.

Reactions vary.

Some security officers take the film without hesitation, while others insist it can safely pass through the scanner. When that happens, I politely explain that I would prefer a manual inspection and that I’m happy to wait. I keep all my forms and booklets ready.

In most cases, that works.

If not, we go into stage 2, show your work, speak the language of the people in front of you.

If I’m almost finished with a roll, I’ll sometimes wind it up early and accept the loss of a few frames.

Traditional carry-on X-ray scanners have generally been considered relatively safe up to 800 ISO films, particularly when passing through only once or twice.

CT scanners are a different story.

Because they scan luggage from multiple angles to create a three-dimensional image, they expose film to a much higher dose of radiation. Film manufacturers and labs have reported issues ranging from fogging and increased grain to reduced shadow detail after CT scans.

While the severity depends on the film stock and exposure, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take with images that cannot be recreated.

A useful rule of thumb is this: if you are not asked to remove the laptop from your bag, there’s a fair chance you’re dealing with a CT scanner.

9. A lead bag is worth every penny

Please do yourself a favor. Purchase a Domke Lead Bag today. Just Google it.

I keep one of their lead-lined film bags in my carry-on.

I barely use it. But it works as an additional precaution.

It isn’t a replacement for a hand-check, but in the rare situation where security won’t inspect film manually, I’d rather have an extra layer of protection than none at all.

Research has shown that film inside a lead bag comes out much better than film without the protection of a lead bag.

10. Be as organized on the way out, as on the way in

And remember: exposed film is not safe yet.

Just because the roll has been shot doesn’t mean the danger is over. Exposed film can still be damaged by scanners, which means you need to be just as organised on the way home as you were on the way out.

Tupperware containers, clear zip bags, a smile on your face, and ideally some kind of booklet or reference under your arm that makes you look like you know exactly what you’re doing.

Only once the film is developed can you finally breathe.

Until then, every airport scanner is potential danger in your workflow.

11. Fake it until you make it

If none of the above works for you, there’s 1 final hack that might.

Purchase a pack of ISO 3200 stickers. Just google: 3200 ISO Stickers and in each country, you’ll find a hit.

Previously I have bought THESE.

Sticker all your rolls as ISO 3200, and no security officer in the world can convince you anymore that your ISO 160, 400 or 800 film is perfectly fine to get destroyed.

12. Keep your administration

After every trip, I keep a register of every single roll of film I own.

If a roll gets scanned, for whatever reason, I keep score. With a permanent marker, I mark that specific roll so I know whether it has been scanned once, twice, or however many times. It then goes into a container with the other rolls that have the same scan history.

One X-ray won’t necessarily destroy your film. Sometimes, even a second one won’t. But without proper admin, you’ll never know from the outside how many times a roll has been scanned in its lifetime.

And that’s exactly how you end up being surprised by damaged scans weeks later.

So yes, I keep a logbook.

Annoying? Yes.

Necessary? Absolutely.

But by doing so, you are in control and it’s fairly easy to keep smiling in every airport go you!

I hope this will help you! Now go get them!

Love,

Pie

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• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

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The moment I've been waiting for all year, has finally come!

I RECEIVED THE VERY FIRST 2 COPIES OF 'COIRÓN' AT MY HOME! 🔥

What a huge moment.

Seeing 6 years of work printed in book form for the very first time with my own eyes.

Holding the paper, feeling the cover materials, and watching the photographs, the poetry, and the essay come together in one final, tangible artwork.

It’s safe to say this is one of the proudest and most meaningful accomplishments of my career so far.

And I want to give you a very small sneak peek into that experience in this Substack.

Last chance to Pre-Order

There’s nothing I’ve looked at more over the past 12 months than the sequence of this book. Yet, believe it or not, seeing it now in its final printed form and slowly moving through the story of 59 photographs, page by page, revealed something entirely new to me.

Perhaps that is one of the true gifts of a ‘printed photo book’. More than on walls, tables, or screens, the individual photographs that I know so intimately as works standing on their own suddenly began to flow as a rhythm, sometimes leaving space between them, other times responding to one another across the pages, and eventually forming connections that perhaps were hidden in plain sight all along.

A beautiful experience.

Below you find a 2 videos that walk you through different parts of the book.

Here's also a sneak preview of the writings of Iván Rojel Figueroa and Alberto Harambour who wrote a poem and an essay for the book ❤️

If you missed the memo and still want to pre-order a ‘signed’ copy of the book, this is your last chance.

The Late Pledge will very soon be disabled, which makes this week the last opportunity to not only purchase a ‘signed book’ but also to purchase a print of this body of work.

The link below has all different print options that are available.

Last chance to Pre-Order

I’ve now officially ‘signed off’ on both books, which means all ‘signed’ Kickstarter copies will be arriving at my home in Haarlem towards the end of August 💥

They are the very first books to ship around the world.

In August and early September, together with my team, those pre-ordered Kickstarter copies are the first to be packed and shipped out into the world.

I truly can’t wait for you to hold this book in your hands later this summer!

Love,

Pie

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Contrary to what my last 2 months of Substack radio silence might imply, it’s been a whirlwind of progress behind the scenes of the coming to life of my debut monograph COIRÓN.

And it’s with great excitement that I can finally say that…

... ALL BOOKS HAVE BEEN PRINTED! 🔥

Following 8 weeks of design, finalising text, and meticulous color proofing with the GOST Books team, we finalised all 59 photographs for offset printing.

And therefore, last week, I traveled to Venice, Italy with my publisher, Stuart Smith, to visit Grafiche Antiga, one of the world’s leading photo book printers.

And it was beaaaautiful!

Giuseppe and his team of printers in Italy completely blew me away; their understanding of the ‘language of photography’ is unparalleled, and they treated the work with more care and intention than I ever could have hoped for.

Each spread required a careful set of adjustments, a bit more magenta here, a tad more yellow there, contrast adjustments, a little lift in the greys, or deeper blacks, until each photograph looked exactly right. And eventually it took us 2 full days to walk through every single page of the book.

Printing is such an art form in its own right and it was deeply inspiring to work with people who have as much passion for paper and printing techniques, as I have for photography. A true bliss.

But besides getting the interior of the book print-ready, I’ve also worked closely with designer Allon Kaye on the final layout, typography, and cover design of the book. It has been a beautiful collaborative journey, defining how the context of the work, the history of the region, and the narrative structure are reflected in the book’s typographic elements and overal look & feel.

A cover is more than just the first thing people see, it’s the introduction into the world you’ve created. In all its simplicity, or in all its complexity, a good cover gets noticed and tells a story all on its own, setting the tone before anyone opens the book.

The typography and textual lay-out of the book is how that first cover impression is being carried forward into the story.

The process between Allon and myself over time became very intuitive. It became an emotional response to the work rather than just a rational study of time, place, and narrative, and I am incredibly stoked with the results. We opted for a feel that is solid yet elegant, rugged but gracious.

Both covers will be crafted from high-quality, Italian-made natural linen, with the title finished in a hot-foil stamp.

All early Kickstarter backers receive an exclusive cover, which will differentiate from the regular cover.

If you still want to get your hands on a signed copy, there’s still a last possibility to order a Kickstarter copy through a late pledge.

Click here to order your copy

Another beautiful process was reading Alberto Harambour’s essay for the very first time, and shaping it into its final form in both Spanish and English. It became a deeply moving text that adds essential context to the photographic work.

The same can be said for the intimate poetry of Iván Rojel Figueroa, who composed a beautiful poem for the book. Seeing these textual elements slowly find their place alongside the photographs was a deeply rewarding experience.

Next month, the books will go to the bindery, and just before I left Italy I have personally signed all Kickstarter copies! ❤️

I truly can’t wait for you to hold this book in your hands later this summer!

Love,

Pie

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From the very start of my photographic career, I’ve believed in the power of sharing knowledge & experience within my community, simply because the intellectual and often isolated pursuit of finding your voice within the overwhelmingly competitive photography space becomes much more meaningful when shared.

Therefore, in this edition I’m sharing 5 tips that have helped me build my own establishment, and I’m sure they will guide you too.

But first, some house-keeping

• It’s with great pride & excitement that I’m launching a brand-new Expedition: ICELAND 2027! If you are ready to hike on glaciers & volcanoes with me, soak in thermal hot springs, stay in the most incredible hotels, and traverse the entire core of Iceland in uniquely modified off-road Monster Jeeps, this is your call! This link gives you all the details.

• 1 last-minute seat opened up to join me to Patagonia in April 2026, in just a few weeks from now. A unique opportunity as 2026 and 2027 have long been sold out.

• Also 1 last-minute seat opened up to join me to Ladakh in September 2026.

• There’s 2 last seats on my April 25th Story-telling Masterclass in Amsterdam, in just 1 month from now.

Ok. Here’s 5 tips to improve your photography

1. Create for yourself

My absolute nr 1 advice to improve your photography is to create solely for yourself. I know, it’s hard in this peer-pressure-society full of expectations. But please do yourself one favour. Create for yourself. For no one else. Not for your family, not for friends, social media, or because you feel the world needs that 1 story to be told.

Instead, turn inwards. There’s so much power in intuitively focusing on what you feel is important. Just you. Because let’s not forget, that the only person in the world who truly needs to believe in the work you create, is yourself.

And if that’s your starting point, it will be much easier down the line to convince others to believe in the vision or story.

2. Behave like a child

This applies to life in general, not only to the world of arts. Move through life with the same curiosity, joy and wonder like a 5-year-old child. Your photography will improve, but even more importantly, your life itself will become richer and more playful.

Society beats all wonder and awe out of us. Think about it, before a child can speak, it sings. Before it can walk, it dances. I see it with my own kids now!

Picasso once said: ‘Every child is an artist, the only problem is how to remain an artist as we grow up’. So let your heart lead, smell the flowers, greet people with smiles, embrace all the small wonders and let your inner child guide you to see the world anew.

3. Stop talking about gear

If I’d gotten a dollar every time someone asked about my gear over the past five years, I could retire by now.

However, no matter which camera you own, the truth is that sharper lenses and more megapixels don’t necessarily enhance your ability to tell a story or compose an image. Real improvement only exists through practice and learning from failure. Not through purchase.

Therefore, my advice is, stop talking about gear, and start taking photos. Invest your money in spending time outside, to photograph as much as you can. Train your eye to see things other people don’t see because your most important job as a photographic story-teller is to reveal the hidden things.

4. Invest in people skills

In an age of complete content overkill, with images and stories everywhere you look, how do you stand out? Will it boil down to the quality of your work? Or the quality of your being? Your values and beliefs.

Try to look at it this way: 10% of your job involves technical skills, 30% involves understanding and analysis of light, and 60% is based on people skills. Therefore, I deeply believe that becoming a better human, will make you a better story-teller. And eventually will make you stand out from the rest. Invest in that.

5. Find stories that whisper, close to your home

Over time I’ve learned that many times in photography, and in life in general, it’s not screaming headlines that grab me the most, but rather the whispering stories that would normally go overlooked. Find them.

Because a subtle story that truly matters to you carries far more weight and power than a blaring headline that only vaguely resonates with everyone else.

And then lastly, the best thing you can do, is to find those stories where you live, instead of somewhere far and foreign. This will allow you to go back repeatedly without spending a leg and an arm, and it puts you in a position to be there when the story needs you to be there. As a result, you will find meaning. And growth starts where meaning is found.

I hope above 5 tips will guide you on your journey to discovering stories you truly care about.

Love,

Pie

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• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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The last 2 months I have given you a deep dive into the making of my debut monograph COIRÓN but the moment has come to close the Kickstarter campaign.

In 48 hours from now, the pre-order closes.

Which means this might be your final call to support this project at its core.

I am therefore encouraging you 1 last & final time to consider pre-ordering a book or a print.

Pre-order your book here!

To thank you for your support, I have decided to launch the 2 most popular prints of this campaign in large format 60 x 75 cm / 23.6” x 29.5” inch.

Below 2 prints will only sell for 48 hours, starting NOW, making this a unique chance to get a large version!

The first small sized prints have meanwhile also sold out.

As you might have noticed, we’re on our way to crush the Stretch Goal, which is incredible!

Your pledge helps us push towards the last & final step of this campaign.

Together we can do it!

But there’s more.

My dear friend Eduardo Castillo, with whom I had the pleasure to perform last year in Mexico City, took the time to speak to me about COIRÓN in a beautiful conversation about purpose and meaning, amongst a lot of other topics.

You can watch the entire 1-hour long conversation below.

Watch the full conversation here

I can’t express how grateful I am for your continued support.

2 more days and I promise I won’t bother you again 🙈

Love

Pie

Pre-order your book

Where Else Can You Find Me?

• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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Hallelujah.

Why did no one warn me? In fact, I spiraled for years. And so, I felt compelled to put into words the path that led me to choose COIRÓN.

Coi-what? Yes, COIRÓN.

See the full project here

First of all, titles come in as many shapes and forms as photo books. Some carry deep meaning, others simply don’t. Some are poetic, others straightforward. Some are meant to be thought-provoking but are not, and others are accidentally funny.

Whatever they do, they seem the first emotional impression of a project, and therefore, should be considered carefully, I guess. Simply because a strong title helps communicate the narrative behind the work, and certainly makes a book more memorable.

Let’s go back to the beginning, when the ‘working title’ of this project was ‘Los Puesteros’. A title that actually perfectly summarizes what the work is about: puesteros.

What you see is what you get.

But half-way into the project, in 2022, I started to recognise it as too descriptive and not a right fit for the project.

And then on an ice-cold winter morning in 2023, I was sitting by the window next to Lucho, while looking over the Patagonian pampa, when he suddenly goes:

“Tomorrow, very big snowstorm is coming.”

I raised an eyebrow while looking at the clouds. “Really? Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I can feel it. The Tordos are singing differently. They’re telling us snow is coming.”

I walked outside and indeed, those little Chilean black birds were going mad.

Back inside, I switched on the radio and waited for the weather forecast to come through. It did mention rain and a drop in temperature, but no snowstorm or whatsoever was announced.

Lucho shook his head, smiling faintly. “The radio doesn’t know what the birds know. You should listen to them. They’re warning us.”

On the way back to our home in Puerto Natales no signs of a sudden change of weather were visible.

The next morning, I woke to a world transformed.

35 centimeters of fresh snow had covered the pampa.

Those god damn birds were right.

It didn’t just mark the beginning of what would become the best photographic week in the making of this book, but it also signaled a long-awaited snowfall in the wider region. After years of unprecedented drought and the mounting pressures of climate change, nature, animals, and people in this part of the world depend on snow to survive.

It was a massive relief!

I jotted down some notes from this conversation with Lucho in a small booklet filled with anecdotes and field notes gathered over all those years in the field.

And 2 weeks later, on my flight home, I did spark an idea.

‘The day the last black bird sings’

Wouldn’t that be the title of the book? I suppose you can imagine its meaning once you’ve heard how the story came about.

I was ecstatic.

Did I just find the title?

But 3 months later, and after giving it some thought, I realised no one would ever remember it. I was even struggling to remember it myself.

A small circle of people involved in the creation of this work also advised against it.

So, I had to let it go.

Back to square one.

Somehow, during my first years on the ground in Chile, I kept hoping to find a one- or two-word title, something like ‘Los Puesteros.’ But the more I thought about it, the less I believed it would ever happen.

I spent a good few months contemplating, and came up with a long list of options, but none of them were brief one or two worded…

Instead, I considered:

Anyway, the wind blows

In the shadow of the wind

Between the wind and the sky

In the corner of the land

The empty house

The last place the wind remembered

Only the moon knows when they die

Some derived from poetry, others randomly made up. All somehow tapping into the spine of the work.

Perhaps you have a favourite.

One I kept going back to over and over again, and quickly became MY favorite, was:

‘The last place the wind remembered’

It combined two central elements of the book, wind and memory, as fundamental expressions of the inevitable passing of time. It also quietly echoes the way this Chilean region is often described as ‘fin del mundo’, the end of the world, while emotionally underscoring the sense that this way of life itself is nearing its end.

While the book deals with heavy subject matter, I found myself increasingly drawn to title options that offered a little more breathing room, titles that avoided direct references to solitude, isolation, or endurance, and instead left space for the reader to imagine another side of the story.

This title was doing that for me.

So I decided to sit with it for a while.

But over time, I began to dislike it. It felt poetic for the sake of being poetic, just a little too pretentious.

After considering two longer titles in a row, I also felt a strong pull back toward something shorter. Would people remember it?

And lastly, from the very beginning of this project, I’ve wanted a title that works in both languages and markets, English and Spanish alike

And therefore, ‘The day the last black bird sings’ as well as ‘The last place the wind remembered’ were not feeling right for a variety of reasons.

Back to the drawing board.

I made a list of 30 key words that summarise the work, so that I could bounce off those words in a last attempt to find a shorter title.

It was 2 weeks before the launch of my Kickstarter campaign.

And I promised myself to have a final title before going live.

The pressure was on.

And that’s usually when my brain performs at its best.

It was in this last and final push that I kept going back to ‘el ultimo campo’, an expression that is being used by every single puestero we met in those 6 years, when they speak about the land.

It literally translates to ‘the furthest land’, or ‘the furthest field’.

Within the context of the farm (campo), there’s multiple ‘fields’. First there’s the main ranch, where the owners live, then there’s the second field, the third field, and so on.

And then in the corner of the land, is the ‘furthest field’, ‘el ultimo campo’. That’s where the puesto stands, and where the puesteros live.

And suddenly I became obsessed with ‘Last Land’ as a title.

It carries a tone of resignation and solitude, two elements that are very recurrent in the history of Patagonian land and its people.

It even has a silent reference to the region where the project took place, that is called ‘ultima esperanza’, which translates as ‘last hope’.

The alliteration seemed memorable and in typography it works very well.

It even works very well in Spanish: ‘Ultimo Campo’.

It had it all.

Decided!

‘Last Land’.

But then, I received the first draft of the essay that will feature in the book by Alberto Harambour.

It was in this essay where I was first introduced to the meaning of ‘Coirón’. The tough wind-beaten grass that dominates the Patagonian pampa. Grass I’ve walked on for 6 years while making this book. But I never really thought it would carry so much meaning within the context of this story.

It’s a dense and resilient type of grass, that quickly springs back. Any footprint in it is fragile and temporary, easy to lose, easy to erase. It’s called survival grass. It survives everything, wind, frost, drought and poor soil. And ultimately, it can slice skin and tear clothes.

I suddenly reminded all those puesteros referring to the god damn coirón, when it sliced their hands and shirts.

When reading more about it, I realized Ivan Rojel Figueroa, a Chilean poet from the region, who’s writing a poem for my book, even named one of his books after this specific type of grass: ‘Rastro en el Coirón’, translated as ‘traces in the grass’.

He refers to those traces as the rural people of the region, isolated men moving across the vast land. Their stories risk disappearing, leaving only faint marks in the grass.

In a way, it seems the grass always closes behind you, erasing your traces. What remains is the land. I began to see these as small human stories, etched briefly into an immense and indifferent landscape.

If mentioned it to a few people from the region, and all immediately made references to wind, cold, distance, and silence.

This was it.

The toughness of the grass and its ability to grow and survive in such a hostile environment, serves as a subtle but powerful metaphor to the resilient spirit of these puesteros.

And the best part, it brought me back to where I started.

A one-word title.

That works in both languages.

‘Coiron’

And it was my publisher Stuart who said the one thing that resonated most with me: ‘I have absolutely no clue what it means, but it almost sounds like a word I should know, and I want to know’.

The Kickstarter runs for 7 more days. If my work resonates with you, there has never been a better moment to invest in it. By simply pre-ordering a book, you are making a huge difference in the scope and scale of how this project will come to life.

And for that I am eternally grateful.

Love,

Pie

Pre-order your book here!

Where Else Can You Find Me?

• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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We did it! We made our first goal! 🎊

Which means, THE BOOK WILL OFFICIALLY BE MADE! 🎈But with 16 more days on the clock, every single pledge still counts!

Therefore, I am announcing a new Stretch Goal.

And I am sharing the winners of the Giveaway + reveal some brand-new prints available for purchase.

Pre-order your copy here!

The last 2 weeks have been a rollercoaster. After having prepared this Kickstarter campaign for months, I could not believe my eyes. Setting a funding goal is always a bit of a random bet. Is the target within reach? Will people see value in the work?

Hitting our goal in the first 10 days was honestly not a scenario I expected.

So, what’s next you could ask?

Well, we are officially getting into the a new phase of our campaign, the Stretch Goal Phase. In the next 16 days, I am hoping to aim for EUR 38.000, and with your support that is possible!

Now, I can hear you thinking, but why still pledge when the goal has been met?

Let’s be honest with you.

I’ve been very conservative in my goal setting, and although I’m incredibly thankful that the minimum funds required to produce the book have been met, there’s still so much more that additional support makes possible.

The world of independent photo bookmaking is a tough one, and in this early stage, a pledge is not just a transaction, it’s a signal of belief. Therefore, it is NOW, when your support has the most impact.

But there’s also something in it for YOU to pre-order a book at this stage:

• the price of the book will increase after this Kickstarter has ended

• this is the only moment to get a signed copy at this price

• all Kickstarter prints are only & exclusively available for 30 days, after the campaign they will never again sell at the current prizes

• as an early backer, you will get your copy before anyone else, even before the bookstores

• pledging now supports me far more as an artist than purchasing a book at a later stage

AND THEREFORE, I HAVE SOME EPIC NEW SURPRISES 💥

When we get to our next target of EUR 38.000, I will run a ‘special exclusive book cover’ for all the early Kickstarter backers. To recognise them as early supporters and founding contributors to this book. See it as a token of appreciation for all people believing in this work at a pre-publication stage.

But there’s more, I have just made 3 brand-new prints available as rewards on my Kickstarter page.

And don’t forget, when the Kickstarter has ended, none of these prints will sell at the current prices again.

See the new prints here

🎁 And thennnnnnn I am announcing the winners of the Giveaway!! 🎁

I have used an online Name-Picker and the 3 winners are……

Grand price: 80x100cm (31x39inch) fine-art print of choice

Nicky Onstenk

2nd prize: Mentorship Session

Isaia Contreras Holsaeter

3rd prize: Mentorship Session

Zacharias Zaugg

I will contact you in person by email to arrange things when the campaign has ended.

Lastly, I also want to mention that I see every single one of you, even those pledging €5 or €10. Every contribution helps bringing this book into the world. It humbles me.

I hope I can count on your support to get to our next goal!

Love,

Pie

Pre-order a copy of the book here

Where Else Can You Find Me?

• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

Let’s build something meaningful together.

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The moment has come!

It’s with great pride that I present to you: COIRÓN, my first-ever monograph.

As a token of appreciation to all newsletter subscribers, I’m giving you exclusive early-access to the Kickstarter, starting NOW, 24 hours before it goes live to the public, so you can secure a copy of the book or your favourite print before things sell out.

Visit the link below to get your copy, and watch the video I made to introduce the work.

Click here to support the project

If you support the project within the first 72 hours (till Feb 5, 3pm CET) your name automatically goes into a raffle and you can win

• Grand price: 80x100cm (31x39inch) fine-art print of choice

• 2nd prize: Mentorship Session

• 3rd prize: Mentorship Session

The past 6 years of working on this story have been a rollercoaster of self-doubt, growth, patience, humility, and ultimately self-discovery. Never before have I put so much feeling, time, devotion and personal savings into one project. But all of that made this journey hands-down the most thoughtful, awake and inspiring period of my photographic life.

Therefore, with trembling knees and a heart full of excitement, I am thrilled to finally reveal what I’ve been working on:

Coirón (noun) /ˈkɔɪ.rɒn/: The native grass of the Patagonian pampa, enduring wind, cold, drought, and poor soil, surviving where little else does.

COIRÓN is story about a dwindling group of men known as ‘puesteros’, Chilean ranch workers who live in isolated cabins, managing livestock on remote ranches, while being employed by ranch owners.

Their interweaving stories reveal an intimate portrait of men living at the edge of the world, pushing through because they must. A meditation on stillness, human resilience and the inevitable passing of time.

Click here to support the project

I won’t go into further detail here, and highly recommend you to watch the video I made about the project by clicking on the link above.

I hope I can count on your support!

Together we can bring this story to life!

Love,

Pie

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It’s the main reason why I started this Substack a year ago, to feed my growing hunger for meaningful, intentional dialogue and to build a community of people who resonate with my vision and work.

If you’ve been here for a while, you also know how much I care about giving back, and how I’m always seeking ways to make an impact that extends beyond photography.

When ‘community’ and ‘impact’ come together, incredible things are possible.

Prints for Wildlife is living proof of that, a fundraiser I founded in 2020 to sell art in support of nature conservation. Now 6 years later, we raised 2.5 million dollars for conservation.

Just because we united people ‘who care’.

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The creation of my upcoming photo book is another step in that journey, and I decided to use Kickstarter as the platform to raise the necessary funds to bring this story to life.

In today’s read I want to explain why.

What Kickstarter does for me, is bringing fundraising, community and visibility together in one place, and by doing so it turns a personal project into a shared journey.

Over the years, I’ve been receiving so much support in the creation of the work, that I felt this is the best possible way to involve all of you in the realisation of the book.

Next Tuesday, February 3, I will therefore launch a month-long Kickstarter campaign in which I will offer an opportunity to support this project in various forms.

To get everyone on the same page, here’s how it works.

Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. That means I will set a total funding goal to cover the printing, the production, and the shipping of the book.

You can pledge to support, by pre-ordering a signed copy of the book, or a book + a print, and so on.

If we hit that goal together, the money goes through, and the book goes to print in the summer of 2026. Towards the end of the summer everyone who ordered gets their books + prints delivered at home.

If we don’t hit our goal, no one will be charged, and the project doesn’t happen.

This means that every pledge really counts.

And pledging early helps build momentum. Therefore, if there has ever been a moment to invest in my work, it will be on February 3, in the first 2 days after the launch of the campaign.

It shows that people believe in the project enough to make it real. And for photographers like me, that early support is incredibly motivating.

But there’s more!

Because I value you as part of my Substack community, I am giving you a 24hr early access to purchase your book or print.

For the first time ever, I will offer a curated selection of prints of this project, in limited-edition runs, exclusively made available for this Kickstarter. When the Kickstarter ends, those prints will never again sell at those prices.

As a token of appreciation, I give you the opportunity to get your signed copy of this limited-edition book, as well as pick your favourite print, before anyone else.

This means for the public the Kickstarter will go live on Tuesday February 3 at 3pm.

For my Substack community the Kickstarter launches 24hrs earlier on Monday February 2 at 3pm.

On top of that I will be running a give-away, again exclusively for my Substack members.

If you back the project within the first 72 hours (starting on Feb 2 at 3pm CET and ending Feb 5 at 3pm CET) you will automatically enter a raffle.

On Feb 6, I will pull 3 random winners.

- Grand winner: 80x100cm (31x39inch) fine-art print of choice of this project

- 2^nd prize: an online Mentorship session

- 3^rd prize: an online Mentorship session

I won’t reveal too much details of the book yet, as I leave that for February 2.

But here’s an overview of the different Kickstarter tiers available:

• 1 x signed book

• 2 x signed books

• Signed book + open edition print

• Signed book + limited edition print (3 options A, B, C,) (edition of 15)

• Limited edition book + clothbound slipcase + hand printed dark room print (edition of 10)

• Signed book + Personal 1:1 Mentorship (virtual or in-studio)

• Signed book + 3hr long portrait sitting being photographed by Pie in a Studio in Amsterdam

• Private Lecture by Pie for company/school/teams + 20 books (each talk can be tailor-made to fit your audience, big or small, and about hope, making impact, inspiration & creativity, (re)connecting with nature, community & belonging, resilience, charity & fundraising)

Lastly, with each purchase, you are helping to make a difference.

For each book sold I will be donating a percentage of each book sold to the Esperanza Housing Program, a local organisation that supports the construction of retirement homes in the region where this book was created, with the goal of providing residential stability to a population that has historically been dispersed.

At its core, the program supports people in continuing to build their lives where they already live, contributing to more balanced living conditions beyond large cities.

Together we can realise this story!

I hope I can count on your support next week.

Love,

Pie

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• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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I dare say that actually ‘photographing’ the work, clicking the shutter, is by far the easiest part of my job.

Conceptualising ideas, securing funding, building strong relationships, and convincing others to believe in your vision is the hardest part.

Unfortunately, in my day-to-day life as a photographer, ‘shutter clicking’ consumes a mere 10% of my time, all the other things a solid 90%.

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It was the summer of 2024, when I felt the confidence for the very first time in the making of this work, that it was onto something that could one day turn into a book.

After five years of fieldwork, something inside told me to start looking for a publisher.

I chose not to self-publish for several reasons, two of them being distribution and credibility. But mostly, because I lacked the necessary expertise, and, more importantly, the time, to realise a project of this scale on my own, without professional guidance and support.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a keen collector of photo books. Over the years, this habit has shaped a short list of publishers I’ve long dreamt to work with, some well-known, others more under the radar, but all sharing a sensibility that resonates with the kind of work I developed in Patagonia.

A good share of the books on my shelves at home come from GOST, a highly respected publisher based in London, run by Stuart Smith.

While doing research, I discovered that a mutual connection, a Magnum photographer whose masterclass I had attended in 2023, was a close relative of Stuart.

And then in Mid-2024, it is my dear friend and fellow photographer Wesley Verhoeve, who convinces me it is the right time to pitch the work. Over the years, Wesley has been guiding me from the sidelines in curating the project.

So I gather my courage, prepare a pitch, and ask our shared contact to put us in touch.

Stuart loves the work.

And so, two months later, I find myself sitting at his kitchen table in London.

We speak the same language and share a similar vision for how to bring the project to life.

In the 1,5 years that follow, and across a multitude of visits to London, we start to lay the foundation of the book.

And oh boy, that was hard.

Over the years I’ve learned that photographic story-telling is very different than more traditional forms of story-telling like novel writing or a cinema.

In a more traditional sense, a narrative arc usually consists of a beginning, a middle, and an end, often with a loop that returns to a question posed at the start. Every element of the story sits along that arc, and as we move through it, tension is repeatedly built up and then released, creating a rhythm that drives the narrative forward.

Photographic story-telling doesn’t work that way.

Its more fragmentary, and much more about rhythm and feeling.

You can compare it to music, it has to flow.

For me personally, the closest comparison is how poetry plays with the absence of information. Strong photo books do the same.

Therefore, in a way, photographic story-telling is just a bunch of scattered dots, and it’s the photographer’s job to make suggestions as to how those dots are connected, while at the same time leave space for each viewer to see something different.

It’s what the industry refers to as ambiguity.

Every viewer brings his/her own life story to the table, and therefore sees something different in each image. It’s the power of the craft, and something I got obsessed with over the years.

In the process of sequencing the work with Stuart, I learned a lot.

The first thing I realised is that sequencing a book is an art in itself, a craft that requires qualities only a handful of people possess.

As a control freak on steroids, it was incredibly hard for me to loosen the reins and let Stuart take the lead.

Mostly, because for me, behind every photograph in this project, there is a personal story, a lived moment, and often a profound human connection. For each image, I could share hours and hours of the wildest tales.

But photo book making does not allow for so much of that context.

Over time, I realized that my strongest images were often taken when I felt confused, not convinced. It taught me that the right moment to press the shutter is precisely when you don’t fully understand what’s in front of you. It’s in that space of uncertainty that an image can find meaning.

While laying the sequence with Stuart, I noticed that he wasn’t overly interested in the context behind the work. Of course, I explained the main concept, but time after time, his response felt intuitive rather than cognitive.

That for me was perhaps the hardest part of bringing the work into book form.

To step away from the idea that a story has to be told.

And to accept that I’m too connected to the work, to see things objectively.

So back to what I do know.

After studying photo books for nearly 10 years, I concluded that 80-90 images could be an equivalent to a 3hour long feature film, and 55-60 images be the alternative of a 90min long film.

However, I couldn’t bring the number of my ‘favourite images’ that ‘have to make it into this book’ down to lower than 215.

But somehow with Stuarts help, we managed to half it, to 105.

And one year into sequencing I came to the point where I opened up to a final sequence of around 55 images.

A moment I could have never imagined to happen when I walked into Stuart’s office for the very first time.

Another major eye opener was the fact that I stepped away from the belief that the book should have a story structure, and it was only recently, that I accepted to let the sequence shape itself.

With that in mind, I left on my last production to Chile two weeks ago, which is where I am currently am.

Reason I went back is to fill the last remaining gaps.

For a long time, I wasn’t sure if this last trip would happen, based on a lack of money and funding.

But here we are, and good lord, what a blessing it is to be back, especially after going through a 1,5 year long window of sequencing the images.

I know exactly why I am here. And I’ve picked up some of the best work in the entire project in these last 2 weeks.

I’m counting the days, till I can send this book into the world, and see it live in your hands, hearts and homes.

And as much as I pretend to have cracked the code of book-making, it is however important to mention that:

“There is only one thing valuable in art; the thing you cannot explain’ - Georges Braque

12 more days till the launch of my Kickstarter!

I am ready!

Love,

Pie

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When I started, I had no kids and no clue.

Now I have 2 daughters, and still no clue.

Joking, somehow, over the course of 6 years, I have learned a lot about the photographic craft, more than I could have ever wished for.

As a result, the main narrative of the work has changed more times than I can count. My photographic eye has continually evolved, my sources of inspiration have changed again and again, and my relationship with the medium is now entirely different from what it was when I began in 2019.

Looking back now, I see a lot of growth.

But in the moment, many phases have felt like an awful struggle.

One constant throughout the process however, has been my trusted Mamiya RB 67 camera, ‘my old lady born in 1970 ’ who has been with me on every journey to Patagonia since the very start and never failed to deliver.

She survived the gnarliest weather conditions, the dampest puestos, the sandiest and bumpiest back roads, countless X-rays and airport security checks, and the around-the-clock hauling of camera bags.

That’s why I felt a little tribute would suit her well.

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As you know, alongside the creation of a photographic body of work, I have collaborated side by side with Chilean-Australian film director Matias Bolla and Australian cinematographer Miller Best for the past 6 years, to produce a 90min long feature film.

From day one, this meant that wherever we went, the 3 of us moved as 1, which can be emotionally and practically invasive. It required careful attention and sensitivity to who was doing what within our small team.

Since the project has been largely interview-based from the beginning, we agreed early on that Miller would always have the right of way. I accepted a secondary role, taking an observational point of view, and sitting back while Miller would do his work, only stepping in once the interviews had finished.

A methodology that went against everything I knew at that point, coming from a background where I preferred to work as a fly on the wall, with a quick, candid, photojournalistic style.

However, I knew that in order to give Miller right of way, I needed to embrace a slower, more intentional way of working.

Otherwise #fomo would drive me nuts.

I simply couldn’t jump in and out of scenes the way I was used to, especially when the camera was rolling.

The intimacy of the puestos we visited, and the trust and patience required to build the access we were looking for, contributed largely to my decision to opt for a slower approach.

So, as much as people ask me about the aesthetics of my work, choosing to work with the Mamiya medium format system has never been about the look or feel, it has always been a decision driven by methodology.

In fact, I knew from the start that the camera has historically been used in a studio context, and I always like that idea, of creating my own little outdoor studio experience wherever I went.

It was then that I decided to work exclusively from a tripod, to prioritise the engagement over the process, the encounter over the final photograph, and to intentionally invest in the relationship with the person in front of my lens.

With only 10 frames on a roll, I was forced to come with a plan every time the floor was mine.

And while I was sitting through hour-long interviews, I had time to prepare those moves in detail.

As a result, every single image I’ve taken for this project was shot from a tripod. Sure, it means you miss some moments, but for me, the intention behind this methodology far outweighs the cost of losing a few images.

But I have to be honest with you.

In those first years, my understanding of medium format analogue photography was limited.

Very limited.

It was risky, but I went for it.

With all the necessary consequences.

People often say ‘you pay to learn’.

Trust me, I did.

As a result, some of the best photographs in this project have unfortunately never been taken, and continue to live inside my viewfinder as well as in my imagination forever, simply because I was fumbling with camera settings.

I had my fair share of loading film backs incorrectly, leaving me with blanks on every first and last shot of the roll.

Or those moments when the shutter blinds of my RB stopped working because temperatures dropped below -15°C and everything froze.

Or the times I left my film stash in the car, only to return to frozen rolls that were unusable when it was time to reload.

And the solutions I improvised, duct-taping rolls around my waist to keep them warm, or using warm water bottles to keep the film warm in my camera bag.

Or my trial-by-fire journey into light metering, and the sheer disappointment when scans arrived showing entire rolls wrongly exposed.

Or the day I discovered, for the first time, that my Mamiya RZ 67 relied on a tiny teeny battery for the electronic shutter, and by the time I realised it, that battery was dead. A replacement shipping from Santiago would take 7–10 days. Ok. Great.

Or simply not bringing enough film, and spending days hunting for extra rolls, only to realize they had to be shipped from a major city. And there was no major city in a perimeter of 2000km.

You pay to learn.

And often you pay a lot, because film is not cheap. And neither is development and scanning.

But in the process, you adjust.

And you learn.

It taught me the power of anticipation. With outdoor temperatures well below zero, and puestos often feeling like saunas from blasting stoves, quickly switching between indoor and outdoor photography proved pointless, viewfinders would go blank from the sudden changes in temperature and moisture.

So you learn to always think one step ahead. Or two.

It makes you more aware about everything you do.

And the beauty is that the people you photograph, will feel that awareness too.

So, why am I telling you all this?

Because through it all, I realised that shooting digitally cultivates a relationship with success, while shooting film nurtures a relationship with failure.

When you pick up a film camera, you essentially teach yourself to dance with mistakes, and there’s something profoundly powerful in that choice, as learning to deal with the imperfections of the craft, fosters a very steep creative learning curve.

Over time, the creation of this work, has pushed me into deep discomfort.

But every time I fell, I got back up again.

Only to fall again.

Whether this story ever travels the world, or whether the book sells out or not, the process of making it has been deeply rewarding.

And somehow, I managed to squeeze a pretty damn decent book out of this entire experience, and I am counting the days till I can share it with the world.

In the next 3 weeks, and in the lead-up towards the start of Kickstarter campaign early February, I’m further unpacking the creation of this work.

Is there anything in particular you want to hear more about? Tell me in the comment section in Substack, or reply to this email.

And do you appreciate these deeper insight into the work? I would greatly appreciate if you share your thoughts.

Love,

Pie

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• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

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This week I would love to unpack two of those first sleepovers in a bit more detail and make a proper introduction to the first two gentlemen who kindly invited us into their homes, as both moments are deeply engraved in my memory as some of the most intimate and humbling experiences in the making of this project.

Within the work, they operate as opposites, offering two fundamentally different perceptions of an almost identical lifestyle.

I will also share some first never before seen photographs taken in the last 6 years, but that didn’t make the final cut of the book.

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I’m sure you can imagine, that due to the nature of this project, with a heavy focus on isolated characters and emotionally weighted themes, building trust and strong relationships with the characters has been integral for unfiltered access.

Navigating sensitive topics such as mental health, finances, and working conditions demands delicacy, trust, and a lot of patience.

Many of the puesteros we followed had never shared their stories with anyone before and certainly not in front of a camera. At the same time, most books and films about gaucho culture continue to romanticise the stoic figure.

Therefore, from the outset, our intention has always been to offer a more human perspective, one that allows for vulnerability over fortitude, and one that reveals not only the beauty of this rural lifestyle in contemporary Chile, but also its struggles.

Santana is one of the region’s most seasoned puesteros.

When we first meet him in April 2022, he’s 69 years old, and has decided to put off retiring due to the ongoing spread of the Covid pandemic. Instead, he continues working in the desolate mega ranch of Oazy Harbour, a once booming sheep farming town with more than hundreds of inhabitants, but now completely abandoned and worn down.

The ranch is occupied by three people; two puesteros and their boss.

Santana is one of them.

At a young age, Santana left the Central Chilean Island of Chiloe, looking for better pay in the Patagonian south, not knowing he would stay for the rest of his life. In the 30 years ever since, he never traveled back home, as he believes ‘being a puestero requires dedication, it is not just a job but an entire life’.

I’ll never forget the evening of April 26, 2022, when we received a call from Ojeda, Santana’s boss, granting us permission to stay at the estancia for a few days. At the time, we had no idea that this very estancia would come to play such a pivotal role in the years that followed.

It also marked our first introduction to Santana, a remarkable man.

After a 4-hour journey from Puerto Natales, we arrived into pitch-black darkness. It felt as if we had driven straight into a movie scene, abandoned buildings scattered across the vast, open pampa, pieces of corrugated iron squeaking in the wind, and the carcasses of dead sheep and horses dotted across the landscape.

An hour by car in each direction, there is nothing, no buildings, no humans, just emptiness.

There’s an eery sense to it.

Later I learn that back in the early 1900s local people nicknamed the estancia ‘gringos duros’ referring to the early European colonial settlers as ‘tough foreigners’ for their brutal and extractive behaviour towards the indigenous inhabitants of the land.

150 years later, that still can be felt.

From the moment he speaks, Santana’s voice carries the weight of a rugged life, shaped by constant movement between ranches and battered by the cold and wind.

In the days that follow, through long interviews and hours and hours of silent sitting, his life story gradually unfolds.

One moment that will stay with me forever is when he recalls the death of his last remaining relative, his sister, who lived in Chiloe. His phone was out of reception and he only found out weeks later that it happened, too late to attend her funeral.

It’s emblematic for this way of life.

Over time, I learn that in his earlier years, his role as a gaucho brought cultural significance and recognition. But as he aged, he increasingly felt invisible and disconnected, turning to alcohol as a refuge.

Over the course of a few weeks in the winter of 2023, we witness his excessive drinking pushing him into crisis as it causing him to lose his steady job. With barely any savings, he is forced to return to town and figure out his next steps in a world he doesn't know and never understood.

Witnessing the brutal reality of this lifestyle has been one of the hardest aspects of creating this work.

A 6-hour car ride away from Santana, lives Hugo.

Hugo was born and raised in estancia ‘El Chingue’ and stayed there until he was in his early 20’s. He recalls giving back the keys to the owners as one of the hardest moments in his life. Since then he’s moved between various ranches and now works in a small puesto near Cerro Castillo, bordering Torres del Paine National Park, one of the continents biggest tourism hotspots.

He lives here with his work partner Juan, another puestero featuring in the book.

The two of them share duties and roam the vast fields and hills that border the small outpost to check on the animals that belong to the estancia owner.

From day 1, Hugo has welcomed us with open arms and over the years we developed a strong personal relationship. It’s safe to say we became dear friends. I lost count of the number of nights we spend getting drunk together while playing Truco (a local Chilean card game), and eating some of the best roasted sheep I had in my life.

In a way, over all those years, Hugo’s home became our Chilean home away from home, or at least, that’s how it felt.

Welcoming and warm.

Contrary to the harshness of Santana’s life, Hugo loves the puestero lifestyle and is very optimistic about his future. He is nearing retirement age and hopes to retire in Cerro Castillo soon where he’s applied for a retirement home through a local government initiative that provides housing to people in need.

The application process took 7 years.

He never pursued romance as he only has room for one woman in his life, his 95-year-old mother. He calls her every day, to make sure she is warm and doing okay.

Whenever he is off, he travels to town to see her.

Being a proud puestero, Hugo is very aware of his role in our book and film. Yet he has never been showy, is camera shy, and dislikes the attention that comes with traveling into town or entering the world of ‘gaucho tourism’. To avoid being perceived as a tourist attraction, he always dresses simply in jeans and a shirt.

Recently, the unprecedented and ongoing drought has left them in a tricky position as drinking water for the animals becomes harder and harder to secure. But he keeps committed to fullfil the job he’s hired for until the last day.

I’m writing this story while sitting on a plane to Chile.

I’m incredibly excited to return to the region, yet I feel a strange melancholy too, knowing this will be the final journey before the book goes to print.

I came more prepared than ever this time around, as I know exactly which gaps in the story to fill, but I find it hard to define this as the “end.”

Something inside me hopes it never ends.

Maybe it does. We will see.

One thing I’m confident about is that the next three weeks on the ground will give me the clarity and confidence I need to finally send this story out into the world.

In the next 4 weeks, and in the lead-up towards the start of Kickstarter campaign early February, I’m further unpacking the creation of this work.

Is there anything in particular you want to hear more about? Tell me in the comment section in Substack, or reply to this email.

And do you appreciate these deeper insight into the work? I would greatly appreciate if you share your thoughts.

Love,

Pie

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Two weeks ago, I made a further introduction into a new body of work that I will release in February 2026 as my first monograph. In the next 7 weeks, towards the launch of my Kickstarter campaign early February, I will step by step unpack the creation of this work as well as the making of the book.

I’d love to pick up where we left off.

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After coming back home from Chile in the summer of 2022, life instantly went back to its regular pace, with busy agendas and goals to achieve dictating the day-to-day, just like it always does.

But this time something felt different.

In my personal life, I’ve long battled with anxiety. As long as I can remember, I’ve always feared being alone. Partly in a physical sense, but mostly in a deeper existential sense. A certain fear of being alone in the universe, a feeling that no one or nothing anchors my existence. It became a recurring theme in many therapy sessions throughout my life.

As a result, in anticipation of these journeys to Patagonia, my anxiety levels often unconsciously peak. A feeling I only discovered years into this project. However, when being on the ground in Chile in the presence of these puesteros, while seeing them sit through a life of silence, hardship and endurance time after time, I started to open up to a different perspective on the silence I’ve always feared.

Somehow being in their presence became a mirror to myself.

As a result, and for the first time in 2 decades of self-discovery, I’m starting to embrace the idea that some of my fears have perhaps shaped who I am far more than I ever realised.

There’s a beautiful quote by writer Peter Matthiesen, that says it better than I ever could:

“The great stillness in these landscapes that once made me restless seeps into me day by day, and with it the unreasonable feeling that I have found what I was searching for without ever having discovered what it was.”

It’s the reason I keep going back to the work I shot during my first 2 journeys into this region. And the more time I spent with the images, the more I start to understand why I am so drawn to this region.

I’m dying to go back and continue working on this story.

And so, I did.

It’s July 2023, heart of winter in Patagonia, and we’re back on Patagonian soil. Ever since coming to this region, I dreamt of being here in winter. The cold, snow, mist, and shorter daylight hours somehow make this region even more intimate and isolated.

Looking back now, it’s safe to say that this particular trip changed the course of this project for me. Years of building trust slowly began to pay off, as we got invited to stay over in the puestos of the men we follow. Over the course of 8 weeks and through countless sleep-overs on old, creaky beds in little frozen homes and endless dinner conversations over bottles of pisco, we discovered a form of intimacy and acceptance that the story was missing.

It became a major turning point in the making of the work.

It also made me realise that my original idea of exploring the mental consequences of a life in isolation gradually shifted toward a new subject layer: ageing. Ageing in a human form, the ageing of the human body and mind, but also as a reflection of the passage of time, as well as the erosion of culture.

I learned that many of these puesteros exhibit a fear for retiring that is much bigger than their fear of dying, because when their bodies give up and they are no longer able to do the physical work, who will take care of them?

But in equal measurements, it was during the winter of 2023, that I found out the work is also much more about human resilience and survival, than initially anticipated.

I witnessed all of these men push through the hardship each in their own way, day in, day out. And when pulling back the stoic curtain, and seeing them navigate the backbreaking labor and mental consequences of this lifestyle, I discovered a culture that deserves a lot more admiration and honour.

The one thing they all had in common, is the fact that they lived their entire life in a place they never owned, and once the time comes that they can no longer do the physical work, they’re forced to go into towns and ‘regular society’ to live a life they’ve never known.

Meanwhile, in a world that becomes more and more connected, the younger generation in this Chilean region no longer find the necessity or desire to pursue a life on the land, instead opting to follow ambitions of big city living or moving into ‘gaucho tourism’ and thereby breaking generational cycles of farm life.

As a result of these rapid social, cultural and economic changes, most of the puesteros we met constantly shift between embracing and resisting the inevitability of change, which creates a complex internal dialogue.

It was also during this winter visit, that i’m becoming more aware of the fact that none of these men is asking for any help, pity or pats on their back. They do see themselves as victim of the circumstances, but carry that awareness with dignity and pride.

At the same time, I also discovered the work is perhaps less about ‘gauchos’ than initially thought, and more about the inner struggle of the men who continue to live this lifestyle.

I feel a growing responsibility to tell their story.

After a freezing and incredibly rewarding 2 months on the ground, I’m sitting in the plane home, going through all field notes I took.

Again, like I always do, I will have to let the work age at home for a bit before I attempt to tie the knots between all the trips we made so far.

But one thing I do know. The book will be a intimate portrait of men living at the edge of the world, pushing through because they must, through stillness, endurance and repetition, in the hope to invite the viewer to consider not just a culture being lost, but to question their own relationship to country, nature and tradition, and essentially meditate on a world moving too quickly to keep up with.

I’m stoked to have you all here.

Wishing you an incredible end to 2025, and great health and spirit for 2026.

Love,

Pie

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With mother and baby in great health, our new home fully renovated, and navigating into a new rhythm as a family of 4, I’m breathing new life into my Substack channel with very exciting news about my forthcoming new book!

Because in February 2026 the Kickstarter for the book is going live!

It is happening!

But first some housekeeping:

• I have launched a new 2026 masterclass date. On April 25, I will be hosting the next edition of my Story-telling Masterclass. Seats are moving fast.

• With my 2026/2027 expeditions nearly all sold out, I have just launched new dates for Ladakh in May 2027. There’s also 1 more seat available to join me to Serengeti in Tanzania in March ‘27.

Publishing my first monograph in 2026

In this edition, I’d like to further introduce you to my most important and significant body of work to date, a project I’ve been working on since 2019 in Chilean Patagonia, which will publish as my first monograph in August 2026.

Last May, I dedicated an entire newsletter to how it all started, on a spontaneous road trip with my wife, Jess, and how the first seed of this project was planted. In the link below you can read that edition again to fresh up your memory.

My long-awaited return to Chile

It’s April 2022, when the third wave of Covid is finally behind us. The lockdown is over and the Chilean borders have reopened. I’m on the very first flight into the country. A moment that has been long anticipated.

During the pandemic, I’ve often thought about the lone existence of some of the gauchos I met during my first visit to the region in 2019, figures who seemed both stoic and vulnerable.

They intrigued me in many ways.

Coming out of a pandemic and having experienced social isolation for the first time myself, I often wondered how an ‘entire life’ in complete isolation must feel.

Something inside tells me I want to return to Patagonia to dive deeper into the lives of these solitary men on the Chilean pampa.

To prepare for my return, I do a fair amount of online research, and in the process poetry quickly emerges as my method of choice. I read a poem by a 19th-century Argentinian poet named José Hernández. The poem, El gaucho Martín Fierro, tells the story of a free cowboy who is pushed into injustice and hardship, yet fights to keep his dignity and voice alive.

But it also goes beyond, the story of one man. It reflects the marginalisation of the gaucho culture in 19th-century Argentina and speaks about how an entire way of life is crushed by unjust authority and erased by so-called progress.

In many ways I feel it could have been written today.

I want to learn more about these men.

When reading more, I learn that, more broadly across this southern Chilean region, the men I am looking for are referred to as ‘puesteros’. Ranch workers who live in isolated cabins or outposts, managing livestock on remote estancias (ranches), employed by ranch owners, to look after the sheep and cattle when they are away.

While battling the harsh Patagonian environment and enduring barren and demanding working conditions, these men often live alone or with a small number of workmates.

The second thing I learn is that, contrary to common misconceptions, there is nothing heroic, romantic, or adventurous about the lives of these puesteros. Digging deeper, I discover a cultural group that, for centuries, has been neglected and dispersed, ultimately losing its identity as a social group.

Once symbols of freedom, their way of life now sits on the edge of disappearance amid unprecedented drought, modernisation, and a system that offers no real retirement or social security. This is forcing many of these men to work for as long as their bodies allow.

Locals say they are the last generation of their kind.

It intrigues me deeply. I want to learn more about them. But where to start?

In the first few weeks on the ground, we drive from town to town and mostly sit in pubs, speaking to locals about where these men reside. With only few cues. We visit countless estancias in the region to speak to their owners, but learned that a history of neglect and cultural marginalisation has caused many puesteros to avoid any form of social contact or recognition.

Historically, most of them are simply not waiting for outsiders’ attention.

Ok, noted and respected.

But we keep trying, and after weeks of accepting refusals and enduring disappointment, we manage to locate the first men who were willing to speak to us.

Looking back, those first conversations clearly marked the beginning of a long-term commitment to returning to this region for many years to come. At the time, however, I had no idea that I was about to embark on the biggest project of my career so far.

What I did feel however, after leaving the region after 8 weeks, was that some sort of foundation had been laid. In a period of two months, we managed to track down more than 15 different individuals, each with their own life story. And, even more importantly, they respected our presence, and welcomed us into their homes.

Through long interviews in their small, often remote cabins, we learned not only about the hardships inherent in their way of life but also about their profound appreciation for customs and traditions that are slowly fading, and their deep relationship with the land.

Over time, I realised that, as much as they see themselves as perpetual victims of circumstances, they simultaneously carry the weight of the backbreaking labor that comes with the job and the erosion of their identity with remarkable dignity and pride.

Above all, I’m mesmerised by their ability to sit in silence. Despite the mental toll of a life lived in isolation, they seem to possess a rare competence to be fully present, undistracted, a quality that feels almost entirely lost in the world I come from.

I return home with a strong desire to go back.

But first, I know I need time to digest this journey, to prepare for a deeper exploration of their lives, and to approach the next visit with full awareness, patience, and a clearer understanding of the challenges they face.

Slowly, the idea of turning this story into a book begins to take shape.

The next 2 months I will use this Substack channel to slowly unravel the making of this book.

Love,

Pie

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While digesting this incredible achievement, I felt compelled to share a few thoughts on the idea that the succes of this campaign clearly demonstrates, that we, as a human race, are profoundly underestimating the power of art.

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But first some House-keeping:

• Last week I received some huge news! This November, we’ll be heading back to Chilean Patagonia for one final production leg to complete my ongoing project ‘Los Puesteros’ (working title). After 5 years of fieldwork, the journey will culminate in 2026 with the release of a limited-edition book published by GOST Books.

  With our final leg now officially locked in, this Substack will be the place in the months ahead, to stay updated on the book-making process and order your copy before anyone else. In fact, in 2 weeks from now, I will make a formal introduction to the project for the first time. And you can read that here.

• I AM CALLING FOR YOUR HELP! I am looking for an exhibition space in Amsterdam. It’s been a long-lasting dream to accompany the launch of my newest book with an exhibition of the best work. So do you know people with access to cool exhibition spaces/galleries in Amsterdam? Or people who know people? Please drop me an email or simply respond to this email. Estimated exhibition date = August 2026 & onwards.

  For now, the launch exhibition will focus on Amsterdam, but I’m very open to hearing your recommendations on who to contact for opportunities to exhibit elsewhere in the world.

If you consider yourself an art lover, or an art maker…

… I’m sure you agree that we’re living in challenging times. With cultural funding being slashed across the globe, art is under more pressure than ever, leaving artists and institutions with fewer resources to create, experiment, and share their work. As a result of more than a decade of funding cuts, our daily lives have become duller, robbed of the joy that creation and experimentation brings.

To me, art is the language of the heart and one of the only languages that manages to bypass and surpass boundaries and divides. At the same time, it’s one of the few languages that has the potential to create a space where we may be able to recognise ourselves in the other. To put up a mirror to the societies we live in, and to build bridges.

And isn’t that what our broken world needs?

A way of thinking and being that offers an alternative form of dialogue, one that connects to people’s hearts.

Therefore, as a human race, I’m strongly convinced that we underestimate the power of art.

Because after all, when do people truly take action? It’s when their hearts are touched.

So how can we collectively accept the arts being stripped away from us by a bunch of ego-centered, profit-driven individuals in suits and ties, who see creativity as a line on a balance sheet rather than the pulse of our humanity?

How can we sit back while the very things that inspire, challenge, and heal us are closed, defunded, or ignored?

In 2020, I grew fed up with sitting on the sidelines, watching everything I cared about being diminished and destroyed. Soon, I realized I wasn’t alone. Together with more than 125 photographers, we launched Prints for Wildlife, driven by a shared understanding: that art and community, when combined, can be a powerful force for real impact.

But also, because in my personal life, the soothing and healing power of art, has always carried me through times of anxiety and despair.

Now, five years later, it’s not the $2.5 million we’ve sent to people and places in need around the world that moves me most. It’s the fact that we managed to bring people together, to build bridges, and to show that hope still exists.

375+ photographers, more then 25.000 customers purchasing prints, and millions and millions of people who engaged with our brand and share the belief that the way forward is paved with hope.

Because, let’s not forget, an ounce of hope is worth far more than a ton of despair.

All it takes is uniting those seemingly small individual efforts into waves, movements, capable of real, lasting change.

Therefore, I sincerely hope that the success of Prints for Wildlife shows that you don’t need to be in a powerful position to make an impact. You don’t need to be a celebrity, a politician or a CEO of a big company. All you need is a dream, and a willingness to keep making steps, no matter how small, towards building that dream.

I hope it will inspire you to stand up and take action yourself, to stop accepting that the things you care about can be taken away from you.

I’d like to end this monologue with a small anecdote about my favourite photograph we have sold in 5 years of campaigning. A photo that says it all.

It shows Sir David Attemborough photographed in 2013 at the height of Kenya’s poaching crisis, and by then 87 years old. He was introduced to an orphaned Black Rhino calf, which was being hand reared by rangers from Lewa Conservancy in northern Kenya.

Its mother had been killed by poachers. Sir David instantly understood that communicating with the rhino at it’s own level would be less threatening than standing above it and the two communicated for a considerable time, in high pitched squeeks, usually associated with mother to calf conversations.

An intimate whispering anecdote about one of the greatest and grandest voices in wildlife conservation and a photograph that honours a 99-year-long (and still ongoing) dedication to protecting the natural world.

It’s my favourite image we have sold in 5 years of campaigning, and our quickest sold out ever. Why?

Because people can feel it in their bones.

And in their hearts.

And that is what art is all about.

Love,

Pie

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• My expeditions: https://www.pieaerts.com/masterclasses/

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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But first some House-keeping:

- I am hiring again! As some of you might know, the past year I’ve been assisted by Noelia, my first-ever intern. It’s time for her to move on, but that means a new position has become vacant. And just like everything else, I’m sharing it here first.

Hereby I am announcing a new internship position. For 6 months to begin with. 2 days a week. Starting date asap but flexible. Ideally someone Netherlands based or willing to move here, fluent in English, social media savvy, let’s go attitude, Big Bonus: web-design, coding, video editing skills.

Is that you? Submit a brief letter of motivation (max 350 words) + personal resume to info@pieaerts.com. Make it catchy & inspiring. Application deadline = October 1.

- On Saturday October 25, I will be hosting MY LAST Story-telling Masterclass of this year, and chances are high the next one won’t happen before early summer 2026. So if this day has been on your radar, this might be your last chance for a while.

There’s a couple of seats available, so get yours HERE if you don’t want to wait till next year.

1. Stop talking about gear

No matter which camera you own, reality is that growth doesn’t exist through purchase, only through practice. Therefore, my number one advise for anyone into photography, is to stop talking about gear, and start taking photos.

Sharper lenses and more megapixels don’t necessarily enhance your ability to tell a story or compose an image. Instead, train your eye to see things other people don’t see because your most important job as a photographic story-teller is to reveal the hidden things.

2. Behave more like a child

I believe, this applies to life in general, not only to the world of arts; move through life with the same curiosity, joy and wonder like a 5-year-old child.

Perhaps not immediately, but over time, your photography will improve. And even more importantly, your life itself will become richer and more playful.

Picasso once said: ‘Every child is an artist, the only problem is how to remain an artist as we grow up’. Society beats all wonder and awe out of us. Think about it, before a child can speak, it sings. Before it can walk, it dances.

Art is the purest form of human expression. So let your heart lead, smell the flowers, greet people with smiles, embrace all the small wonders and let your inner child guide you to see the world anew.

3. Create for yourself

I know, it’s hard in this peer-pressure-society full of expectations. But please do yourself one favour. Create for yourself. For no one else.

Not for your family, not for friends, social media, or because you feel the world needs that 1 story to be told. Instead, turn inwards.

There’s so much power in intuitively focusing on what you feel is important. Just you.

Because let’s not forget, that the only person in the world who truly needs to believe in the work you create, is yourself. And if that’s your starting point, it will be much easier down the line to convince others to believe in the vision or story.

Did you ever sit down in silence and write down your values and beliefs? Preferably in concise to the point language, and unrelated to photography. If not, start tomorrow. Journal about your feelings and emotions, and over time recurring threads will surface. They will become the foundation of your creative growth.

4. Invest in people skills

In an age of complete content overkill, with images everywhere you look, how do you stand out? Will it boil down to the quality of your work? Or the quality of your being? Your values and beliefs.

Try to look at it this way: 10% of your job involves technical skills, 30% involves understanding and analysis of light, and 60% is based on people skills. Therefore, I deeply believe that becoming a better human, will make you a better story-teller. And eventually will make you stand out from the rest. Invest in that.

5. Find stories that whisper

Over time, I’ve learned that many times in photography, and in life in general, it’s not the screaming headlines that grab me the most, but rather the whispering stories that would normally go overlooked. Find them.

Because a subtle story that truly matters to you carries far more weight and power than a blaring headline that only vaguely resonates with everyone else.

I hope these 5 tips will help you on your path to defining your own voice.

Love,

Pie

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This edition I’m sharing a truly remarkable story with you that happened to me this year. If you don’t believe that life has a path laid out for you, I’m sure you will after reading the story below.

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I’m sure you know those moments, when you think of someone just seconds before they call, when the same stranger keeps appearing in your path over weeks, or when you learn a new word and suddenly see it everywhere.

They could be labeled as coincidences, but often they feel loaded with meaning because they somehow break the ordinary flow of routines.

Mysterious threads that tie life together in ways we can’t always explain, part of a larger web of cause, effect, timing and connection.

Ok, enough intro, you get it.

It’s May 2024 and a man by the name Eduardo Castillo sends me a DM commenting on a recent story I photographed in Mozambique.

We immediately connect and have a lovely conversation.

Only to find out immediately after our first chat, that I was listening to his music during my time in Mozambique, just days before we connected. Odd.

In the weeks that follow, we continue our conversation, and dream up ways we could collaborate, how we would blend music & photography into a story-telling vehicle that inspires action and creates change.

Meanwhile, the universe keeps playing tricks on us.

It’s June 2024. I’m heading off on an assignment in the Arctic Circle, and believe it or not, Eduardo happens to be on a ship in the exact same region.

What are the odds of a Venezuelan and a Dutchman bumping into each other at the freaking North Pole, in the very same week?

Odd.

Both caught up in our own agendas, there was no chance to switch ships, but miraculously, without any prior comms - due the complete absence of phone reception in the region - we spotted each other on deck.

Upon our return, we kept in touch. Both fathers of a daughter, we chat about how fatherhood essentially is the purest form of activism.

We have a lot in common.

And figure out we both dream big.

Slowly, a plan is coming together.

We schedule our first joint concert. Mexico City will be the stage, closing Mexico City Art Week, on February 9, 2025. One of the most eclectic weeks in one of the most buzzing cities on earth. Promising.

In the weeks that follow, we work on a concept for a 3-hour-long live show that blends both of our worlds, Eduardo’s music, and my photography. With the ultimate goal to dissolve barriers, to invoke a profound sense of empathy for our planet and each other, and ultimately, to create tangible action.

We decide that proceeds from our show go to LADLE, a sanctuary in Tulum where children are given space to grow, play and learn.

We dream up scenarios in which this first show in Mexico will be the start of something bigger. I’m excited. For obvious reasons.

A few days before our concert takes places, I am rounding up a 4-week-long intense visit to Kumbh Mela Festival in India, the largest religious gathering of humans on earth and one of the most humbling and spiritual experiences of my life.

I’m exhausted and dying to go home, holding my daughter and wife. But something deep inside told me weeks ago, this opportunity to perform together with Eduardo live on stage in Mexico, could be the start of something bigger.

And so, I started the long journey from India with the first leg being a short flight from Prayagraj airport, in Central India to Delhi.

On board, I’m flicking through some videos on my phone, reliving all the highlights.

Apparently, a woman sitting behind me recognizes some of the videos through a crack in the seat. When getting off the plane, she starts a conversation and shares being a long-standing admirer of my work. Wow.

What are the odds? Coming from a festival with 200 million visitors.

While waiting for our luggage we continue chatting and I share that I’m on my way to Mexico, to meet a friend named Eduardo.

Surprisingly, she tells me she also has a friend named Eduardo living in Mexico. Considering how many Eduardos live in Mexico, I hadn’t thought much of it, until I explain to her I’ll be sharing my photography with him on stage, while he accompanies the visuals with his music.

It seems, we are talking about the same Eduardo. And the lady sitting behind me on a plane in Central India, is a dear friend of him. Give me a break.

It was as if the universe had conspired to bring us together. The odds of this happening? One in 200 million, I did the math.

Another example in a sequence of events, that showed me I had made the right decision. This long detour on my way home from India, was serving a bigger purpose.

Not yet knowing, this first concert, would mark the beginning of a truly special friendship and a world of collaboration.

It’s February 9, 2025. Minutes before we hit the stage, the lights dim and the crowd’s energy fills the room. The lobby of the former Antigua hotel Reforma is buzzing, temperature is rising. Close to 1000 people have gathered.

I wasn’t really prepared for what was to come.

Highly recommend to watch below video (preferably with good audio):

Seconds before our show starts, there’s a moment of silence. In that moment, the crowd becomes one, and the first beats start to flow through the space, like the primal pulse of the earth itself.

The entire space becomes an organism, synchronized with every beat, every melody and chord. The dance, the rhythm, it’s more than sound; it’s an inevitable human connection.

Various artists, and musicians, most of them local Mexicans, are invited by Eduardo, performing live on stage, while my work is displayed on massive 360 screens.

The degree of human connection that is felt in the room, is something I haven’t really felt before.

Eduardo speaks about the Overview Effect, the realisation of Earth’s fragility and the unity of its inhabitants. A symphony of sounds that becomes a universal narrative that encapsulates what it means to be human. The goal of our performance is to engender a collective experience akin to the cognitive shift described by astronauts, when they enter space.

I can feel it. Everyone can feel it.

After 4 weeks in India, the gate to my soul is wide open. Being in this space and seeing all elements come together hits me.

For me personally, art has always been a vessel for something deeper; impact, legacy, and the responsibility to give back. The soothing & healing power of art has always carried me through dark times and it’s been a long-standing dream to using my work and my voice as a vessel to give back to people.

Eduardo invites me on stage to speak about that feeling and to share my personal story.

A moment I will never forget.

Long after returning home from Mexico, that feeling of human connection is still buzzing in my heart and my soul.

Coincidences are often whispers from the world, nudging you toward a path you might not have noticed. Learn to pause, listen, and trust them, not as fate dictating your life, but as gentle guides reminding you that the universe is always paying attention.

A few weeks after Mexico City, our second show took place in LA.

We’re currently working on new plans. Keep an eye out on the show agenda.

A new friendship is born.

One you’ll be hearing more about in the years to come.

Love,

Pie

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But first some House-keeping:

- I recently launched 2 brand-new expedition destinations for 2026/2027: Tanzania & Patagonia. Two uniquely special adventures. They both sold out within 48 hours after launching them to my inner circle list of previous expedition participants. However on both adventures, 1 seat became available. A unique opportunity to join me to Serengeti in Tanzania in March ‘27 or to Patagonia in Chile in April ‘27.

- After selling out my Ladakh Expedition for May ’26, I decided to launch a second expedition to Ladakh in September ’26. Seats are moving fast, with only a couple of them left.

- Also, my annual expedition to Kenya in October ’26 has a few more last seats. As I always indicate, each year could be the last year of me running each expedition.

Now let’s talk about my deep appreciation for rangers.

Honor, discipline, dedication, integrity.

A few words that instantly come to mind when I think of all the incredible rangers, I was fortunate enough to spend time with over the past few years in places like Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

These men and women are the lifeblood of African conservation, putting their life on the line every single day in order to protect the planet’s last remaining wild places.

Throughout the years I realised time after time they are so much more than their job titles imply.

They’re loving fathers & mothers, caring husbands & wives and attentive sons & daughters. Often sole income earners providing for an entire family.

Therefore, on World Ranger Day, we celebrate their spirit, their energy and their courage. A day to show them our respect and appreciation.

But sadly enough, it’s also a day to commemorate the fallen ones, those that got killed or injured in the line of duty, and the families that are left behind, like my dear brother Albert who passed away in 2020 during a tragic accident in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.

His passing became the reason I founded Prints for Widlife in 2020, and now his legacy supports tens of thousands of rangers around the world.

In fact, these brave men and women are the main personal reason behind my motivation to bring Prints for Wildlife back this year, after 3 years of absence.

They need our support more than ever before!

Because let’s be real.

Rangers deserve far more recognition for what they do.

Spending the majority of their lives walking far distances in tough places, often in spartan conditions, receiving way too small wages, being separated from family for long periods of time and being 24/7 on the look-out to avoid getting assaulted by wild animals or armed poachers.

It’s because of them, that these wild places still exist.

I salute every one of you. And I will forever have your back.

But now comes the good news!

You can help making the lives of these heroes easier!

On August 21 the 4^th edition of Prints for Wildlife will go live, in support of Conservation International.

After generating 2.1 million dollars between 2020-2022, we are coming back with ‘Edition Hope’ in 2025, addressing a new, urgent threat: the global shift away from environmental protection.

Conservation programs around the world are facing abrupt funding cuts and a possible future where nature is undervalued, threatening years of progress to protect biodiversity, ecosystems and the communities that depend on them for their livelihoods.

It’s making me furious but at the same time more committed than ever to fight back.

That’s why our team has spent the last 6 months building an entirely new campaign.

A complete rebrand.

Hundreds of new artists, and hundreds of new artworks.

A whole lot of incredible surprises.

4 weeks of campaigning.

And still, like always, 100% of the proceeds benefiting the protection of wild places, this time benefitting Conservation International!

So if you're searching for a way to turn your anger and disbelief into real, meaningful action, than mark your calendars for August 21st, 2025.

Love, Pie

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Where Else Can You Find Me?

• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

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Since diving full-time into photography in 2018, I quickly noticed in the first few years that I barely knew anyone in the industry. Coming from a corporate background, without any formal education in film or photography, let alone an MFA under my belt, I wasn’t just missing a community of photography buddies, I also felt like I had to work twice as hard to creatively challenge myself and push boundaries.

Luckily, I come from a family where hard work is the norm, and now, 7 years later, I finally feel that I’ve arrived at a creative point in my career, that I’ve been striving toward for years. But getting here meant not a minute of rest, just go, go, go.

In those early years, I was on the road 10 months a year.

But when our daughter Lily was born in 2021, everything changed. I forced myself to be more mindful about what I say “yes” and “no” to. Those 10 months quickly became 6, assignments being no longer than 2/3 weeks at a time.

“How do you do that with a child?”

A fair question, and one I asked myself many times before she was born. And to be honest, without the incredible support of devoted, and loving grandparents and my wife Jess who fully stands behind all of my choices, it simply wouldn’t have been possible.

For the first two years, it worked well. But as Lily grew older, I noticed she became more aware of my absence. So I brought 6 months down to 4.

Her birth also shifted how I structured my business. I wanted to be more intentional with how much time I spent away from home versus the income that time generated.

That’s when the idea of running photography expeditions was born, initially as an experiment, with a first trip to Kenya for 8 guests. Fast-forward 4 years, and I now run a full-scale expedition business with annual, sold-out trips to Kenya, Tanzania, the Himalayas, Zambia, Patagonia, and many more destinations on the horizon.

It’s a dream come true.

But it also comes at a price. The obvious downside is being away from home, missing those ‘first times’ of your kids. But truth is, upon return, there’s always another ‘first time’ for me. A more silent downside, is the fact that 70/80% of my work-related travel now revolves around expeditions.

To stay creatively challenged and relevant in my field, I need to keep working on personal projects too. One of those, photographed in Chilean Patagonia, has been a thread running through the last 6 years of my life and will be published as a book in early 2026.

Which means it was time to start thinking about the next project. But then the next question pops up, how and when do you know you’ve started a new project?

Often that realisation comes in hindsight. I never really plan for it. But lately I felt I was on to something, until we found out Jess was pregnant with our second child earlier this year (woohoo!).

That news made me pull the brake and triggered another big round of reflection.

What do I want life to look like when we have two kids? One of the first things that came up, was the desire to have a more solid, quieter base. Away from the city buzz. Closer to ocean, with more access to nature and more space for our kids.

I decided to clear my calendar, and from March 2025 onwards, I’ve been home in Amsterdam. 4 months and counting, and I love it.

The past years were extremely hectic that I had forgotten how wonderful it feels to not always be on the move.

But it does not mean I am sitting still. Quite the opposite.

We decided to sell our Amsterdam home and leave the city after 12 years. Instead, we purchased an old house in Haarlem that needed to be completely renovated and restored. We’re doing the majority of the work ourselves, meaning I’ve been on-site every day for the last 3 months. So far, so good, we’re on schedule. The renovation is set to be completed just one week before our second daughter is due, mid-September.

Perfect planning, right?

In addition, the political situation in the U.S., and the global unrest it triggers, was a personal reason to relaunch Prints for Wildlife, my little fundraising baby I co-founded with Marion Payr in 2020 as a response to the collapse of tourism in Africa during COVID. Back then, we raised $2.1 million for conservation and, like the virus, quietly disappeared in 2022.

But now, with Trump actively dismantling USAID, and knowing the catastrophic consequences this will have, we felt we had to take our responsibility. Partly, because I always deeply believed in the soothing and healing power of art.

So this summer, we’re launching Edition Hope, a bold rebranding of the Prints for Wildlife initiative, supporting the work of Conservation International.

Launching a campaign of this scale takes focus, and time. And now that I’ll be in the Netherlands for 8 months, renovating our future home, the timing couldn’t be better.

Lastly, preparations for my next book are in full swing (more soon!). That means meetings with the publisher, designers, and printers, and building a big Kickstarter campaign that’s set to go live later this year (so get ready!)

The production of this body of work is my most important work related priority at the moment.

All in all, 2025 is a year of big life events for me, a year I’ve intentionally carved out to slow down and gain clarity on what’s next.

It’s also a year where I’ve had to say “no” to some amazing opportunities, but the bigger picture now takes the lead. And that feels really good.

When later this year, the 4 of us are settled in our new home and rhythm, I’ll pick up travel again, kicking off with hosting my annual Kenya Expedition in November ‘25.

In 2026 a lot of incredible assignments have been laid out. I can’t wait.

I hope you appreciate more personal life chit chat, drop me a comment below.

It’s one of the reasons I started this Substack, to engage with all of you on a deeper, more meaningful level.

Love, Pie

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Where Else Can You Find Me?

• Website: www.pieaerts.com

• Instagram: @BecausePeopleMatter & @PieAerts

Let’s build something meaningful together.