A deserted alley in the ghost town of Apice, in the province of Benevento, southern Italy, 22 November 2016. After the Irpinia earthquake that took place in southern Italy on 23 November 1980, leaving at least 2,500 people dead, 8,000 injured and 250,000 homeless, the town in the heart of the Sannio area was evacuated and its residents moved into what has become the new Apice. Only recently the narrow streets and the tragically abandoned buildings have started, slowly, to repopulate. (Photo by Cesare Abbate/EPA)

“The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a U.S. organization that specializes in rescuing and caring for large predators which are being ill-treated, for which their owners can no longer care, or which might otherwise be euthanized. Created in 1980, The Wild Animal Sanctuary is situated on 720 acres (291 ha) of grassland near Keenesburg, Colorado North of Denver, and has helped over 1,000 animals since it first opened. As of 2010, it was home to over 290 animals”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Rescued brown and black bears feed at The Wild Animal Sanctuary on October 20, 2011 in Keenesburg, Colorado. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Model Sara Sampaio shows some side boob as she arrives at Balmain Fashion Show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France on September 28, 2017. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

French actress Adele Exarchopoulos – Outside arrivals at Christian Dior Womenswear Spring/Summer 2020 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on September, 24, 2019. (Photo by J.M. Haedrich/SIPA Press)

Polish supermodel Anja Rubik attends the Saint Laurent show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021 on February 25, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Swan Gallet/WWD/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

British-French actress Emma Mackey attends the Saint Laurent Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on September 26, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

A hunter holds a shot female pheasant next to his dog “Lola”, a Deutsch female Kurzhaar, during the first day of the Italy hunting season in Castell'Azzara, Tuscany, central Italy, September 20, 2015. The number of hunters in Italy has been decreasing, from 1,701,853 in 1980 to 751.876 in 2007, with a percentage reduction of 55.8%, according to the latest available numbers from the national statistics bureau ISTAT. (Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters)

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.