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.

Colombian-Spanish actress Juana Acosta attends the Fotogramas Awards 2012 at Joy Eslava Club on March 12, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

This family of warthogs regularly visited our campsite in the Ethiopian highlands so I set up a remote camera with a wide-angle lens to photograph them as they rummaged around for food. They just had a mud bath. (Photo by Will Burrard-Lucas/Caters News Agency)

A man wears a sweater covered in Irish themed pins as he stands with thousands of spectators to watch the 254th New York City St. Patrick's Day parade up 5th Avenue in the Manhattan Borough of New York, March 17, 2015. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)

San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego, and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans.

Photo: Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012. (Photo by Eddric Lee)

Doris Dean of Chicago, Ill., sits with her gun shortly after she won a 50 meter, 40-shot event for women with a perfect 400 score at the National Rifle Association (NRA) matches at Camp Perry, near Toledo, Ohio, September 7, 1941. (Photo by AP Photo/DW)

“Einar Erici (1885–1965) was a physician by profession, working at a tuberculosis hospital in Stockholm, even running a private medical practice. He was by then the most renowned Swedish expert of church organs and organ builders, and his archival collection is today held by the Swedish National Heritage Board. This archive includes mostly writings, such as letters and manuscripts for published articles and essays, but also more than 2 000 black and white photos – original prints, glass plates and film negatives”. – Swedish National Heritage Board

Photo: Priest, Valamo Monastery, Karelia, Russia (then Finland), 1930s. Father Venerius with a birchbark basket. (Photo by Einar Erici)

Cormorant masters and boatmen prepare sea cormorants for the nights “Ukai” on July 2, 2014 in Gifu, Japan. In this traditional fishing art “ukai”, a cormorant master called “usho” manages cormorants to capture ayu or sweetfish. The ushos of River Nagara have been the official staff of the Imperial Household Agency of Japan since 1890. Currently six imperial fishermen of Nagara River conduct special fishing to contribute to the Imperial family eight times a year, on top of daily fishing from mid-May to mid-October. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)