Description

Artist Statement by Dustin Ferguson

In the frozen stillness of the northern prairie, three pumpjacks bow in rhythm—iron workhorses of the oil patch, steady and unrelenting.

3 Lucrative Amigos captures the enduring heartbeat of an industry built on repetition and resilience. These machines, once marvels of innovation, now stand as symbols of persistence—low-tech silhouettes against a high-speed world. Their synchronized motion speaks to a legacy of labor, extraction, and the quiet power of utility.

Rendered in black and white, the image strips away distraction, emphasizing form, function, and the passage of time. It’s a nod to the age of the design—and a reminder that in a world obsessed with the new, there’s still a place for the old ways that work.

This photograph is a tribute to endurance. To the machines that shaped economies. To the slow, lucrative rhythm of progress that doesn’t always need to be fast to be effective.