Bringing humans and nature together through print

In 2017, Pie Aerts quit his office job to become a photographer. Although it was a huge leap of faith, Pie knew he had the inspiration and motivation to succeed. His inspiration came from a lifelong love of photography and art in a physical form: books, paintings, prints. His motivation was a desire to conserve a planet clearly suffering due to humanity's increasing detachment from nature.

Four years later, now a renowned nature photographer, conservationist and Canon Ambassador, Pie's gamble has handsomely paid off. Today, he uses his passion for photography and printed art to examine the disconnect between humans and nature – and to help repair that divide.

In 2020, Pie embarked on his biggest project yet, Prints for Wildlife, which brought together wildlife photographers from around the world. The project used printed photography to raise funds for African wildlife reserves adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here, Pie explains how printing his work has been fundamental to his photography career and his continued environmental mission to reconnect mankind with nature.

"In March 2020, people celebrated that the natural world had space to breathe. Without things like tourism and air travel, the planet could recover. But there was little awareness of the impact diminished tourism would have on Africa. Marion and I read about it and realised the lack of funding would set conservation back decades.

"Most conservation funding comes from tourism – people paying park fees, staying in hotels – but everything stopped overnight. That meant rangers weren't being paid to protect national parks, and people in those areas would soon move back to poaching, deforestation or other illegal activities.

"So we decided to raise $100,000 for park conservation NGO African Parks, an organisation with a people-driven approach. We contacted wildlife photographers, asking them each for one image. We sold those as limited-edition prints for $100 each. The campaign went viral, and thousands of international photographers applied to join the cause. We ended up uniting 125 photographers, selling 6,600 prints and raising almost $700,000."

"I started selling my prints in 2017. I have a strong background in print: I collect books and appreciate a good story in newspapers and magazines. Naturally, the next step was printing my own work. I was also tired of the 'swipe and like' culture, where your work has to grab someone instantly. This was pushing me away from online."

"The first step towards protecting the planet is making everyone aware and appreciative of how beautiful nature is. Then they're more willing to fight for it or donate money.

"If you put an image on your website, it will be gone eventually. Instagram posts disappear into feeds forever. With prints, it's completely different: they're in people's homes, and there's a daily encounter with the same physical image. That's impossible to replicate digitally. If I manage to get people outside after buying a print, if it's in their home as a daily reminder that the natural world is worth fighting for – that's big."

"It's difficult to shoot with high-selling prints in mind. When heading into the field, I sketch and pre-visualise a lot. But it's tricky: if you only have those concepts in mind, you end up completely biased in what you shoot. These days, 50% of my work is based on my sketches or on other work I appreciate, the other 50% comes from complete creative freedom.

"To produce printed images, it is important to keep the final product in mind. I've learned to always consider how an image will look once edited in Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom®. I'm always trying to replicate the experience I have in the field: it's midday; a giraffe is crossing the plains; it's hot, dusty and windy. My final images must convey that feeling."

"I think most people, myself included until last year, just assume that paper comes from trees and that's about the extent of the impact it has on nature. But then [I found out about] the amount of chemicals and water that are used in the paper process, and the toxic waste, and it was shocking."

"So I started to completely change the narrative of my printing business into one that was as sustainable as possible, and the first step was using Hahnemühle Natural Line paper. There are zero chemicals involved and 80% less water than normal. We printed the entire Prints for Wildlife campaign on this paper, and I'm now working on sustainable shipping solutions too."

"Yes, big time. Especially because I'm selling prints in sizes upwards of 200x300cm. Working with those sizes, you need the best sensors. The bigger the sensor, the more definition in the printed image.

"Not every image must be pin-sharp. Taking a blurry image on purpose, or accepting the beauty of imperfection, is fine. But when you want sharpness, you shouldn't be limited by sensor size. The Canon EOS R5 sensor delivers the best quality outside of medium format, but you don't necessarily need the most expensive camera available. A Canon EOS 5D Mark IV or Canon EOS 6D Mark II provides plenty of definition to work with."

"During a pandemic, when you're not sure whether you'll lose your job, would you donate $100 towards African conservation? But what about if you got something in return – such as a print from a photographer which would usually sell for $2,500?

"The campaign was successful because of this new approach," Pie adds. "We tried to persuade people who would usually be unable or unwilling to donate to African conservation to do so because they'd receive a physical product – and it worked."