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)

In this May 12, 2017 photo, Pupy, an African elephant, stands in the doorway of his enclosure at the former city zoo now known as Eco Parque in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A year ago the 140-year old Buenos Aires zoo closed its doors and was transformed into a park. The first director decided that the animals should be housed in buildings that reflected their countries of origin. A replica of a Hindu temple was built for the Asian elephants. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Secondary school students perform a barefoot “pilgrimage of suffering” to support the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement at the Admiralty protest site in Hong Kong November 30, 2014. It has been two months since police first fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators from the main protest site in the Admiralty district next to government offices in the heart of the Asian financial centre. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

Thousands taking part in a rally with placards chant slogans near the National Assembly Building to protest against South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, as local prosecution investigates Yoon under treason charges, in Seoul, South Korea, on December 8, 2024. The president of the East Asian country, who survived an impeachment voting on December 07, has been facing increasing criticism and anger from the public, following his attempt to impose a martial law on December 3. (Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Indonesian mahouts clean their Sumatran elephant in a river near the zoo in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 12 December 2014. According media reports, the smallest of the Asian elephants, Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatrensis) is facing serious pressures arising from illegal logging and associated habitat loss and fragmentation in Indonesia. The population has come under increasing threat from rapid forest conversion to plantations. (Photo by Dedi Sahputra/EPA)

A referee tries to separate two cocks fighting during a Cock fighting tournament on December 3, 2016 on the outskirts of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Cockfighting is held during the week end and is a tradition with asian roots still practiced in Madagascar. (Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP Photo)

A member falls as Team Kazakhstan competes during the women's team pursuit speed skating final at the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Japan's Satoko Yamada prepares to compete during the Shooting 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team bronze medal match against South Korea for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Saturday, September 30, 2023. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)