Artifacts left by American soldiers during World War I in underground stone quarries near the Chemin des Dames. Credit William Daniels for The New York Times

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing,” the street artist Banksy wrote in 2001. “And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty, you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.”

(Jonathan Bratten, “The History Behind the Graffiti of War,” NYTimes)

(C) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.