Kieron Connolly’s new book of photographs of more than 100 once-busy and often elegant buildings gives an idea of how the world might look if humankind disappeared. Here: Bodie, Mono County, California. Gold was discovered at Bodie in 1859 (just after the initial California gold rush) and it went from mining camp to boomtown. Its decline began in 1880, when word spread of new boomtowns elsewhere. The Standard Consolidated Mine closed in 1913, and four years later the Bodie Railway was abandoned. By 1940 the population was down to 40. Today, Bodie is maintained in a state of arrested decay as a visitor attraction. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

Animal rights activist, stained with fake blood, perform during a protest against the use of animal skins in the clothes and fashion industry, in Madrid, Sunday, December 10, 2017. (Photo by Francisco Seco/AP Photo)

U.S. President elect Barack Obama kisses his wife Michelle as Vice-President elect Joe Biden (right) embraces his wife Jill after Obama gave his victory speech during an election night gathering in Grant Park on November 4, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A woman reacts as she poses with a man dressed up as the Star Wars character Chewbacca outside the Dolby Theatre, the site of the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 26, 2016. (Photo by Adrees Latif/Reuters)

A kingfisher plunged into the water in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK in the first decade of June 2025, to grab a fish for lunch – but its prey twisted free in a last-second escape. (Photo by Alan Benson/Caters News Agency)

Accordion player and broadcaster Gary Innes performing with dancer Rachel McLagan at The Ovo Hydro, Glasgow on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, to help launch, Hoolie in the Hydro, the World's Biggest Ceilidh, which will take place this December. (Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)

Masked up revellers hit the town in Sheffield, United Kingdom on October 10, 2020 before the Prime Minister introduces a three-tier lockdown system that will see hospitality venues shut in virus hotspots. (Photo by London News Pictures/The Sun)

A woman runs through a sea foam, as a seasonal cold front moved over the Cape Peninsula, following a week of severe weather and flooding in Cape Town, South Africa on June 19, 2023. (Photo by Nic Bothma/Reuters)