North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is hugged by children during his visit to Samjiyon County in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang November 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/KCNA)

Twin baby panthers Remaong and Ferra cling to their basket while being presented to the media at Tierpark Berlin zoo on July 13, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The two panthers were born in captivity on April 26. (Photo by Sean Gallup)

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.

Nuninka, Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), holds her newborn baby in the enclosure at Usti nad Labem Zoo, Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic January 3, 2017. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Five micropigs born to mother, “Truffel”, are seen in Zoo Wuppertal on August 11, 2014 in Wuppertal, Germany. The five micropigs are the major attraction of Zoo Wuppertal. Pigedy, Fiete, Frederik, Smartie are 4 males and is Keks is a female micropig. (Photo by Animal Press/Barcroft Media)

A rare white kiwi chick is seen only days after being hatched on May 22, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand. The all-white kiwi, named “Manukura” is suspected to be the first white chick born in captivity. The chick is the thirteenth of fourteen baby kiwis hatched at the wildlife centre this season. (Photo by Mike Heydon/Jet Productions NZ Limited via Getty Images)

Adult gentoo penguins keep an eye on their newly born chick at Edinburgh Zoo on June 10, 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The gentoo chicks which started hatching in early May are looked after by both parents who regurgitate part digested food. When the chicks are hungry they peck the beaks of their parents to signal feeding time. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A beggar who lay at the side of a road pretending he had no legs was moved on by police who made him stand up and walk away. The man lay slumped on his front in Chengdu, in Sichuan Province, China, with his legs tucked under him, and his jeans stretched out to make it appear he had no legs. He is approached by a police officer, who bends down and talks to him for some moments. The officer then reaches out and helps the man to his feet before guiding him across the road. Chengdu is one of a number of cities where officials have tried to clamp down on begging. (Photo by Rex Features)