Pie Aerts Documents Chile's Disappearing Puesteros in New Photobook

Dutch photographer Pie Aerts spent six years documenting the puesteros, aging gauchos who live and work in isolation on vast private ranches in Chile's Magallanes region. His first monograph, Coirón, will be published by GOST Books in September. The book captures a way of life on the brink of extinction, as younger generations abandon farming for city living or gaucho tourism. The region faces rapid social, cultural, and economic change, exacerbated by unprecedented drought. Puesteros endure backbreaking labor, solitude, and a lack of retirement provisions, leading to alcoholism and suicide. Some are breaking the stigma around mental health by discussing their struggles. Aerts says the project helped him rethink his fear of loneliness.