American actress and YouTuber Madeline Petsch in the second decade of May 2023 jokes about “intimacy“ while filming “Riverdale”. (Photo by madelame/Instagram)

A woman carries a floral design handbag at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, Britain on May 21, 2018. The annual show of floral art, timed to coincide with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show nearby, sees over sixty shops, restaurants and local businesses compete for prizes, with the awards given by RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) judges, this year on the theme of “Summer of Love”. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

People walk along a street with long-tailed macaques in Lopburi, north of Bangkok November 29, 2015. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

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.

American actress Joey King in the second decade of May 2024 shares a silly selfie sipping a cocktail. (Photo by joeyking/Instagram)

Schick Hydro and Chanel Iman get guys #NakedFaced at the Schick Hydro Barbershop at The Sports Illustrated Swim City Event on February 9, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Schick)

A Thai jockey competes during an annual water buffalo race in Chonburi Province, south of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, October 26, 2015. The annual race is a celebration among rice farmers before harvest. (Photo by Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo)

American singer-songwriter and TV personality Katy Perry takes advantage of “American Idol’s” Disney Night to dress up as Cinderella on May 12, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Eric McCandless/ABC)