Luis, who often goes for months without speaking to anyone other than his dogs, struggles with the mental toll of living a life in isolation. His traumatic family history and the consequences of his adoption drove him, at the age of 20, as far away from home as possible.

Most of these men spent their entire lives in places they never owned, and when they are no longer physically able to work, they are forced to move to ‘regular society,’ leading lives they’ve never known, a breeding ground for mental health problems.

After 18 years working at the same outpost, Santana lost his job due to excessive drinking. Well past retirement age, he was forced to move in search of new work. He struggles to fit in in his new city and, as a result, sinks deeper into his heavy alcohol addiction.

Hugo calls his 95-year-old mom every day, checking in on her to make sure she is warm and doing OK. He’s decided that while his mother is still alive, he will not pursue a romantic relationship, as she is the only woman in his life worth making the time for.

Danilo had to adapt to a new reality when a failed surgery left him in a coma. He constantly worries about his missing pension, as his weakened body can no longer endure the rigors of horseback work, and with no family to rely on, he faces an uncertain future.

After living alone for more than 40 years, one day Luis started to have visions. He followed an endless light into the valley, where he survived a severe fall from his horse that nearly left him disabled.

In a world that becomes more and more connected, those in the younger generation 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 a generational cycle of farm life.

Oscar, photographed in 2022 in his neighbor’s home just moments after his own ‘puesto’ burned down to the ground in less than 30 minutes from a stove fire.

In a culture rooted in strength, endurance, and the denial of emotion, these puesteros oscillate between preserving their heritage and accepting its gradual disappearance.

Carrera, photographed at Estancia Oazy Harbour in 2025, an abandoned and isolated ranch located northeast of Punta Arenas amid the vast plains of San Gregorio, spent his entire working life moving between farm jobs on some of the most remote and sparsely inhabited estancias in the Magallanes region.

Worn down by wind, snow, and rain, and often in decay, these puestos have become symbols of strength and resilience. Originally built as simple shelters for nomadic farmers, they hold deep emotional and cultural significance in the wider region.

Unprecedented drought is putting more tension on the region year by year.

Juan on his bed in 2022 in his small ‘puesto’ in a valley just 25 miles away from Chile’s most internationally renowned tourist destinations, Torres del Paine National Park.

Conversations about mental health are uncommon among Chilean men of this generation. After decades of silence, some of these men are becoming more open about the impact this lifestyle has had on their mental health. In doing so, they break the stigma surrounding the stoic character of the traditional gaucho.

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Photography

Alone on the Land: Photographer Pie Aert Documents the Last Gauchos of Southern Chile

09.20.2026

photographs by Pie aerts

words by atmos

Pie Aerts’s Coirón captures the labor, solitude, and quiet rituals of Chile’s aging puesteros who spend months alone tending ranches.

Set in the far south of Chilean Patagonia, photographer Pie Aerts’s new monograph, Coirón, follows aging gauchos known as puesteros, who live and work alone for months at a time across vast private ranches, caring for land they do not own.

Photographed over six years in the Magallanes region, the long-form documentary project traces lives shaped by physical labor, distance, and prolonged solitude. Through images of daily labor and quiet stillness, Aerts offers an intimate portrait of a community where identities are deeply bound to the land, even as age and a changing world make that way of life increasingly difficult to sustain.

As the region undergoes rapid social, cultural, and economic change, fewer young people are choosing to follow in the footsteps of previous generations. Caught between adaptation and resistance, the puesteros at the center of Coirón embody a way of life on the brink of disappearing—one shaped by repetition, gesture, and the slow accumulation of time.

Coirón by Pie Aerts is published by GOST Books and is available to buy here.