A David Cameron look-alike poses with a polar bear model outside the Houses of Parliament as part of a Greenpeace protest on May 13, 2011 in London, England. The environmental charity Greenpeace arranged the protest to highlight the first anniversary of David Cameron’s speech when he pledged to make his new government the greenest ever. In April 2006 Mr Cameron traveled by huskie-drawn sledge when he visited the island of Svalbard in Norway to witness the effects of climate change. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (not pictured) arrives at Stansted Airport on June 2, 2011 in Stansted, England. The photograph is a recreation of a picture originally taken in the 1960's, with ten of the new London Bunnies. Mr Hefner is back in the UK to mark the launch of the new Playboy Club in Mayfair, which opens on June 4. The clubs opening will welcome back the iconic Playboy Bunny to Londonafter a 30 year absence. Famous Bunnies have included Debbie Harry and Lauren Hutton. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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.

In this photo made late Saturday, August 9, 2014, in Keelung, Taiwan, a traditional Chinese dance troupe performs during a parade marking the beginning of the Chinese folklore's mid-summer's Ghost Month Festival. Fourteen days into the seventh month of the lunar calendar, August 9, in 2014, marks the traditional Chinese Ghost Month where the gates of the underworld are opened and spirits of the deceased are set free to roam the world of the living. The month long festivities are aimed to please the roaming spirits. (Photo by Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

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.

History Created on 15th June 92 Young poor & Physically challenged Couples tied in a lifelong knot of Marriage “Free of Cost” Combined Marriage Function at Ramlila Ground on behalf of “Narayan Sewa Sansthan”. “Although we are unable to move without the support of a crutch or might take the help of others in performing every activity, still, we can afford to become a support for each other”. With this spirit, 92 young disabled and poor brides &bridegrooms promised to support each other throughout their life. The historical Ramliila Ground of Delhi became the witness of this mega event. Photo: Mass wedding in Delhi.

Old Heidelberg, Dog with Pipe, 1905. (Photo by Detroit Publishing Company)

These tiny worlds created in a tiny glass bottle, literally, are the work of Akinobu Izumi. Akinobu uses paper, clay, wax and resin among other materials to create these intricate miniature worlds.