In February 2021, following a shift in U.S. presidential administrations, migrants from Central and South America, displaced by poverty and in many cases persecution, gathered along the U.S.-Mexico border hoping to cross. Media coverage of migrants predominantly fixated on images of vulnerability: figures wading through the Rio Grande, clutching their loved ones, or being detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. While Ferguson acknowledges the importance of this journalism, these representations often lacked perspectives from the Mexican side of the border, particularly any imagery that granted migrants dignity and agency.

In response to this gap, Ferguson travelled into Mexico to key flashpoints along the border, engaging directly with migrants as they waited in limbo. Through a process that was both documentary and collaborative, he sought to subvert the traditional dynamics of photojournalism. Mounting a medium-format camera on a tripod, he composed each frame, then surrendered control of the capture, allowing migrants to create self-portraits and actively participate in documenting their own lives. This act of self-documentation sought to challenge the conventional documentary gaze, empowering each migrant and reframing them not as objects of spectacle, but as co-authors of their own image.