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 harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. Newborn pups weigh around 11 kilograms (24 lb) and are 80–85 centimetres (31–33 in) long. After birth, the mother only feeds that pup. During the 12 day nursing period, the mother does not eat, losing up to 3 kilograms (7 lb) per day. Harp seal milk contains up to 48% fat, so pups gain over 2.2 kilograms (4.9 lb) per day. During this time, the juvenile's “greycoat” grows in beneath the white neonatal coat, and it weighs 80 pounds (36 kg)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A harp seal pup lies on an ice floe in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence March 24, 2008 in Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 11: Sculptor Oleg Bessonov creates a rosette from clay at the Schlossbauhuette studio where a team of sculptors is creating decorative elements for the facade of the Berliner Schloss city palace on November 11, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The Berliner Schloss was the residence of the Prussian Kaiser and was among the major architectural landmarks of Berlin until it was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1945. The communist authorities of East Berlin demolished the building in the 1950s, and today's Berlin government is pursuing an ambitious project to rebuild the palace according to a design by Italian architect Franco Stella, which will recreate the facade of the building but with a modern interior at a cost of approximately EUR 590 million. The Humboldt Forum, the foundation leading the project, has given the Schlossbauhuette sculptors the formidable task of recreating the hundreds of architectural elements that decorated the facade, and though some original pieces were saved, more often the sculptors have only old black and white photos as reference. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The galactic core of the milky way occupied by two small wooden boats on July 2, 2014, in Isle of Wight, UK. The Milky Way shines in mesmerizing colourful patterns above the Isle of Wight in stunning photographs. Chad Powell used a DSLR camera to capture images of the spectacular constellation above the familiar beach scenes of England's largest island. The 22-year-old, who shot the pictures over a year of stargazing on the island, often stayed up until dawn to catch the most dramatic sky-scapes. Chad, a graphic designer from Ventnor, Isle of Wight, used foregrounds of abandoned theme parks, harbors and lighthouses against the illuminated sky. Minor adjustments were made to bring out the contrast and whites in the images. (Photo by Chad Powell/Barcroft Media)

An Indian Hindu widow smeared with colors sits and watches others playing during Holi celebrations at the Gopinath temple, 180 kilometres (112 miles) south-east of New Delhi, India Monday, March 21, 2016. A few years ago this joyful celebration was forbidden for Hindu widows. Like hundreds of thousands of observant Hindu women they would have been expected to live out their days in quiet worship, dressed only in white, their very presence being considered inauspicious for all religious festivities. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

“Ary Borges and his family live in southern Brazil like most families the Borges' love animals and have an array of cats living in their home. The only difference between the cats owned by the Borges family and the cat that is cuddled up on your lap as you read this is the Borges' cats weigh over 700 pounds and could kill you just as soon as look at you. The Borges family shares their home with nine tigers, two lionesses, a chimp and a Chihuahua”. – Amanda Schiavo via Latin Times. Photo: The Borges' family pet dog, Little, is placed on the back of Tom, their tiger, for a photo to be taken, in Maringa, Brazil, Friday, September 27, 2013. (Photo by Renata Brito/AP Photo)

New autopilot features are demonstrated in a Tesla Model S during a Tesla event in Palo Alto, California, 2015. Federal officials say the driver of a Tesla S sports car using the vehicle’s “autopilot” automated driving system has been killed in a collision with a truck, the first U.S. self-driving car fatality. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said preliminary reports indicate the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla at a highway intersection. Joshua D. Brown, of Canton, Ohio, died in the accident May 7 in Williston, Florida, when his car's cameras failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky and didn't automatically activate its brakes, according to government records obtained Thursday. (Photo by Beck Diefenbach/Reuters)

“We take rusty old junk and we put love into it”. The old Motor City has a unique style in bicycles these days: from fat wheels and fake fuel tanks to stretched cycles with powerful sound systems – and even a family-sized BBQ. “Detroit’s custom bike scene developed alongside Slow Roll, a weekly cycle ride started in 2010 by Jason Hall and Mike MacKool. Now upwards of 2,000 people turn up each Monday to cruise a different part of the city. The week I go the crowd seems evenly split between black and white, male and female, city and suburbs. It’s the most inclusive cycle event I’ve ever witnessed”. (Photo by Jason Walker/Slow Roll Monday Nights)