President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport, Wednesday, September 30, 2020, in Duluth, Minn. (Photo by Alex Brandon/AP Photo)

Wind gusts, blowing down King Street, twist umbrellas during Hurricane Ian in Charleston, S.C., on Friday, September 30, 2022. (Photo by Grace Beahm Alford/The Post and Courier via AP Photo)

Actress Lindsay Lohan and DJ Samantha Ronson attend the Charlotte Ronson Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Promenade in Bryant Park on September 6, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for IMG)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

“A Hawaiian photographer braved freezing temperatures for this cold SNAP – of what appears to be a firebird bursting from an aurora. Keen snapper CJ Kale, more used to sun, sea and sand while at work than snow, captured the incredible moment while on a trip to Alaska. It was his first time seeing the spectacular sight and lucked out – capturing some of the rarest colors of aurora on his first night”. – Caters News

Spencer Slate, costumed as a scuba-diving Easter bunny, is shown in this handout photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau as he hides eggs amid eel grass, in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Florida March 31, 2013. About 80 adults and children participated in an Underwater Easter Egg Hunt, seeking real hard-boiled eggs painted with non-toxic food coloring to avoid adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. (Photo by Bob Care/Reuters/Florida Keys News Bureau)

An NHS worker walks past a banner supporting NHS staff outside Salford Royal Hospital on March 22, 2020 in Manchester, UK. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread to at least 182 countries, claiming over 13,069 lives and infecting more than 308,592 people. There have now been 5,018 diagnosed cases in the UK and 233 deaths. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Modern and contemporary fake artworks including Banksy, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol are displayed following an Italian Carabinieri operation against a large-scale pan-European forgery network, in Pisa, Italy, on November 9, 2024. (Photo by Carabinieri/Handout via Reuters)