Polar Bear Explorer
Pie will be heading to Svalbard in June 2024, and you can join him! He will be on hand throughout the trip, providing expert advice that will help you capture the perfect shot.
-Pie's Personal Projects-
Pie works on longer form documentary projects.
COIRÓN
A poetic long-form documentary
Since 2019 Pie has traveled to the Southern Chilean region of Magallanes to spend time with a dwindling group of men known as ‘puesteros’. Ranch workers who live in near solitude, tending livestock on vast remote ranches. The result is COIRÓN, a poetic long-form documentary project photographed across the span of 6 years, that explores the intimate world of some of these last 'puesteros' and releases in bookform in 2026. It investigates the duality of loneliness, how it can wound but also soften. And in doing so, became a visual meditation on stillness, human resilience and the inevitable passing of time. A portrait of men living at the edge of the world pushing through because they must, through silence, endurance and repetition.
UMOJA
My newest print collection
Since 2018 Pie has worked on a long-form body of work that spans the entire African continent and that explores his personal relationship with the African landscape, focusing on the uncertain space between an old world that is falling apart and a new one that has not emerged yet, scheduled to release as a book + exhibition in 2027.
Where to go with Pie
Find Out More Here
Pie Aerts
EXPERT PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE
Pie Aerts is a Dutch documentary and wildlife photographer and environmentalist. His work explores the intimate and melancholic relationship between people and place, in an attempt to explore why we seem increasingly disconnected from each other, ourselves, and our natural environment. With a research-led exploration of stereotypes, he attempts to define nuanced and personal perspectives on culture, tradition and human relationships. In doing so, he deliberately prioritizes hope over despair, and coexistence over conflict.
In 2018, Pie transitioned from a successful corporate career to the realm of visual storytelling, bringing an autodidactic approach to the craft. Driven by a profound belief in art’s transformative power to heal and reconnect, he founded Prints for Wildlife in 2020. This visionary fundraising platform has since raised $2.5 million by uniting 375+ nature photographers globally, who contributed their work in support of African wildlife and communities.
After more than 15 years of fieldwork all across the African continent and beyond, as a photographer as well as an activist and Canon EMEA Ambassador, Pie has developed an intricate understanding of, connection with and passion for documenting the last wild corners of our planet. His travels have taken him around the entire planet, documenting unique stories with a strong focus on the intersection between wildlife and humans.
Overview of Pie Aerts's Portfolio
“In a world where we have all the answers at our fingertips, there’s still a few things in life that require patience. Patience to create an understanding of the intricate web of life. Patience to explore the depths of our existence. And patience to understand that every wild animal is a mystery in itself. And then, within that space, you will see that everything is balanced and that every encounter with nature is not an intellectual pursuit, but an affair of the senses, on a visual journey towards the essence of our being. Because in the end, saving nature, is essentially about saving ourselves.”