Ukrainian soldiers from the assault brigade inflict fire damage with a 120 mm mortar while supporting the assault operations of the infantry on April 19, 2024 in Ukraine. The country's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has warned its allies that if more military aid for Ukraine is not approved soon, such as the long-stalled aid package from the United States, it could usher in a “Third World War”. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

This photo provided by Jiji Press shows a Japan Airlines plane on fire on a runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2, 2024. A Japan Airlines plane was in flames on the runway of Tokyo's Haneda Airport on January 2 after apparently colliding with a coast guard aircraft, television reports said. (Photo by JIJI Press/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.

The photo project was done for the organization Fishlove and included some other U.K.-based celebrities posing in the buff with critters ranging from bass fish to sharks. Its goal is to raise awareness of how overfishing is destroying the oceans. The release of Gillian's nearly nude pic, which was snapped by French portrait photographer Denis Rouvre, is timed with a European Parliament vote on banning destructive forms of deep-sea fishing in the Northeast Atlantic. The Fishlove organization is trying to rally voters to sign a petition ending deep-sea trawling – which, according to scientists, is negatively impacting the fish population and their habits – and Gillian solicited signatures in a Twitter post. Photo: “Fish Love” Project by Photographer Denis Rouvre. Gillian Anderson. (Photo by Denis Rouvre)

How awkward! Michelle Rodriguez (35) got very visibly drunk and sloppily kissed model Cara Delevigne (21) at the January 7 New York Knicks game, in what has to be the greatest public waste of court side seats of all time. Photo: Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, January 7, 2014. Actress Michelle Rodriguez and model Cara Delevingne sitting in the front row during the 4th quarter. The two were hugging and touching each other and Rodriguez appeared to be very intoxicated. (Photo by Anthony J. Causi/Charles Wenzelberg/The New York Post)

People don’t realize how much our exterior can affect our mood. If we make ourselves smile, we might feel a little better, yet if we frown, we soon get the irresistible urge to listen to Blues and weep over the days long gone. The same goes for our clothing. Many people, especially the elderly, tend to dress in the same old rags, without ever feeling the need to change something about their appearance. However, as Cue Qozop clearly demonstrates in his Spring – Autumn photoset, clothes can completely alter the appearance and the mood of the wearer. Elderly people dressed in young people’s clothes look much younger and happier. They look as if they are full of vigor and are about to set out on an amazing adventure.

“Kids of Sapa”. Four little beautiful Hmong girls from Lao Chai Village, near Sapa, Vietnam. (Photo and caption by Felipe Hanower/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)