A Catholic faithful fancy dressed as a “talciguin” -character of the local folklore- takes part in the celebration of an ancient local tradition that marks the start of Holy Week, in Texistepeque, some 80 km west of San Salvador, on April 15, 2019. Talciguines are devils who “lash” Catholic faithfuls to cleanse their sins. (Photo by Marvin Recinos/AFP Photo)

Dramatic thunder and lightning striking Portsmouth in Hampshire, South East England last night, July 9, 2023, captured from the Isle of Wight. (Photo by Jamie Russell/Bournemouth News)

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.

“By 1969, the fashion choices of tens of millions of young American men and women were as variegated and ever-evolving as the world around them. Cultural transformation was an irresistible force during the Sixties, and across America and around the globe civil rights, women’s and gay liberation, the sexual revolution and, of course, the explosive soundtrack of R&B, soul and rock and roll informed everything from politics to fashion”. – LIFE. Photo: Corona del Mar High School students Kim Robertson, Pat Auvenshine and Pam Pepin wear “hippie” fashions, 1969. (Photo by Arthur Schatz/Time & Life Pictures)

Neon Naked Life Drawing in London, United Kingdom on August 23, 2022. Combining UV light and reactive body paints, Neon Naked brings an alternative, vibrant and psychedelic exploration to life drawing classes. (Photo by Guy Corbishley/Alamy Live News)

People attend New York's Annual Village Halloween Parade dressed as soldiers from the United Nations in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., October 31, 2022. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Snow surrounds one of the Anthony Gormley statues called Another Place at Crosby Beach Merseyside, United Kingdom on Friday, March 10, 2023. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)

French photographer Bettina Rheims poses next to her work, two days before the opening of her exhibition “Pourquoi m'as-tu abandonnée ?” (Why did you abandon me?) at the Museum of Photography Charles Negre, in Nice on June 13, 2024. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)