Arras, War Time, from the series Ruins of War

In this depiction of the Battle of Arras, soldiers climb atop rubble into damaged homes. Here houses are not domestic spaces, but rather spectacles of destruction. The homes are emptied, destroyed, and stripped of their facades, appearing as they would have to residents returning following World War I. The Battle of Arras lasted from April 9 to May 16, 1917; during that time, Allied troops pushed Germans east from the French town in the Artois region of northern France. It was during the Battle of Arras that the fight for the Vimy Ridge took place. Though the battle lasted for a little over a month, Arras was continually bombarded for four years, and, among the cities of France, the damage inflicted was second only to that faced by Rheims.