Challenger Deep Submersible is shown for the first time at the Virgin Group Media Announcement by the President & CEO of Virgin Airlines Sir Richard Branson at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club on April 5, 2011 in Balboa, California. (Photo by John M. Heller/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.

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.

English singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis Bextor (C) performs with Kevin Jeremiah, Dan Gillespie Sells and Richard Jones of The Feeling at Clapham Grand on December 13, 2021 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

Volunteers from the South Carolina Aquarium release a rehabilitated Loggerhead Sea Turtles on May 18, 2012 in Isle of Palms, South Carolina. The turtle was one of two that were rescued and nursed back to health by the sea turtle hospital at the aquarium. (Photo by Richard Ellis)

Comic artist Adam Ellis recently adopted Maxwell, a 3-legged kitten. Here is a series of shots Ellis regularly posts to his Instagram account showing his kitten wearing tiny paper hats.

If Kim Kardashian was a feline shed be purr-fect for this new book which features a collection the worlds best cat “selfies”. The furry frames have been compiled by cat owner Charlie Ellis who has scoured the globe for the perfect puss pictures. In his book “Cat Selfies” moggies try their hand at the craze most of their humans have become addicted to posting on social media. And it turns out cats might be better at taking photos than their owners with a variety of poses captioned in the book. (Photo by Charlie Ellis/Caters News)

The model Dovima in a suit and cloche hat at Les Deux Magots cafe in Paris, France in 1955. (Photo by Richard Avedon/The Richard Avedon Foundation/The Guardian)