The Mausoleum of the Giants, an immersive solo show of monumental sculptures by the artist Phlegm, is installed at Taylor’s Eye Witness Works in Sheffield, England on March 14, 2019. (Photo by Danny Lawson/PA Wire Press Association)

Chilean police officers march with the puppies of future police dogs during the annual military parade at the Bernardo O'Higgins park in Santiago, Chile, September 19, 2018. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

Serbia's Milica Mijatovic falls during the Women's World Cup Group H qualifying soccer match between Serbia and Germany at Sports Center of FA of Serbia stadium in Stara Pazova, near Belgrade, Serbia, Tuesday, April 12, 2022. (Photo by Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo)

Paul Taylor Dance Company dancers Alex Clayton and Lisa Borres perform a scene from “Fibers” during a dress rehearsal on June 14, 2022. The Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC) will be at the Joyce June 14-19, 2022, with dances featuring early works choreographed by Paul Taylor. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

Chelsea Haardt #9, Melissa Margulies #2 and Ogom Chijindu #6 of the Los Angeles Temptation wait for the start of the Lingerie Football League's Lingerie Bowl IX against the Philadelphia Passion at the Orleans Arena February 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Vitor Martins puts forward his fist, that has the word “God” tattooed on it, in front of his Santa Claus outfit inside his house, before a performance with children in Sao Caetano do Sul's town square, near Sao Paulo, December 7, 2014. Martins has dressed as Santa Claus, working at shopping centres and various events, for fifteen years, and has 94 percent of his body covered in tattoos, with several in reference to Christmas. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Ellesse Janda welcomes a spring rainbow at Cresswell in Northumberland, United Kingdom on March 17, 2023. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)