In Avenue de Boulogne, rows of tree stumps stand like gravestones, while a lone figure fishes off the edge of a massive fallen tree in The Current State of the Pond at Auteuil. Maxime Lalanne made these prints after witnessing the environmental destruction caused by the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), a defeat for the French army. During this conflict, the Prussian army besieged Paris, and both the French and Prussian armies as well as civilians resorted to cutting down trees in public parks to make fortifications and to burn as fuel. Wars between governments over resources have devastating consequences not only for those who fight, but also for the environment in which they are fought. Lalanne’s series foregrounds the ways that the desire for territory can cause harm to the land itself.