Anti-frost candles burn in apricot plantations to protect flowering buds and blossoms from frost in the midst of the Swiss Alps, in Saxon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland, 05 April 2019. With an unusually low temperature forecast for the season, fruit growers try to protect their buds from frost damage with two different means, icy water or large candles. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

Jaime “Ka Diego” Padilla (R), spokesperson of the Melito Glor Command of the New People's Army (NPA), and Ka Kathryn (Comrade Kathryn) (L) react during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019. (Photo by Alecs Ongcal/EPA/EFE)

People celebrate after Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced that he is resigning Aug. 2 after weeks of protests over leaked obscene, misogynistic online chats, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, July 25, 2019. (Photo by Carlos Giusti/AP Photo)

Robots serve trays with food to customers waiting at the Robot theme restaurant in Bangalore, India, 17 August 2019. Six robots are deployed as waiters at the the robot-themed Robot restaurant where each table is equipped with a tablet to place one's order. (Photo by Jagadeesh N.V./EPA/EFE)

A street in the Cuban capital, Havana, is home to 12 sets of twins, ranging from toddlers to senior citizens. Some say it could be something in the water. Others point to a tree with mystical significance for locals. And maybe it's just chance. Photo: In this September 29, 2013 photo, nine-year-old twin sisters Camila, left, and Carla Rodriguez pose for a portrait along their street in Havana, Cuba. 12 sets of twins live along two consecutive blocks in western Havana, ranging in age from newborns to senior citizens. “We love living on this block because we have twin friends”, said Carla. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)

The zombies, cowgirls, and witches were out in force Saturday night on Clematis Street as thousands of people came to Moonfest to celebrate Halloween. They came from Broward County, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Port St. Lucie, and as far away as Germany and Sweden. Photo: Joe Smith, 60, Boca Raton. (Photo by Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)

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.

Women Wrestlers, Bolivia. Lucha libre (Bolivian wrestling) is one of the most popular sports in the country. Women wrestlers are known as cholitas and have in the last ten years become popular in the sport. Here, Carmen Rosa and Yulia la Pacena perform in a benefit show to raise money for the bathrooms of a school in La Paz, Bolivia, 26 June 2011. (Photo by Daniele Tamagni)