An elephant eats a snack after performing at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus' “Circus Extreme” show at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 29, 2016. Elephants take a final bow at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus on Sunday, ending a 145-year spectacle that delighted fans but enraged animal activists, who say the highly publicized retirement is not enough. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

“Einar Erici (1885–1965) was a physician by profession, working at a tuberculosis hospital in Stockholm, even running a private medical practice. He was by then the most renowned Swedish expert of church organs and organ builders, and his archival collection is today held by the Swedish National Heritage Board. This archive includes mostly writings, such as letters and manuscripts for published articles and essays, but also more than 2 000 black and white photos – original prints, glass plates and film negatives”. – Swedish National Heritage Board

Photo: Priest, Valamo Monastery, Karelia, Russia (then Finland), 1930s. Father Venerius with a birchbark basket. (Photo by Einar Erici)

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.

“Unexpected x2 (a.k.a. “how much is that doggie in the window”)”. Taiwan, 2011. (Photo and caption by Asian (Street) Impressions)

A man carries a bag on his back in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, January 26, 2016. According to traffic police, over 2.9 billion trips will be made around China during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started on January 24. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A U.S. Army soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his military working dog jump off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior 2011 on March 1, 2011. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez/U.S. Air Force)

A devotee with his body painted poses as he waits to perform during a ritual as part of the annual Shiva Gajan religious festival at Sona Palasi village, in West Bengal, India, April 11, 2016. Devotees offer sacrifices and perform acts of devotion during the festival in the hopes of winning the favour of Hindu god Shiva and ensuring the fulfillment of their wishes, and also to mark the end of the Bengali calendar year. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Competitors in costume cross a water obstacle during the Wildsau Dirt Run (Wild Boar Dirt Run) obstacle course fun race at Hellsklamm ravine in Obertriesting, Austria, October 22, 2016. (Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)