Kieron Connolly’s new book of photographs of more than 100 once-busy and often elegant buildings gives an idea of how the world might look if humankind disappeared. Here: Bodie, Mono County, California. Gold was discovered at Bodie in 1859 (just after the initial California gold rush) and it went from mining camp to boomtown. Its decline began in 1880, when word spread of new boomtowns elsewhere. The Standard Consolidated Mine closed in 1913, and four years later the Bodie Railway was abandoned. By 1940 the population was down to 40. Today, Bodie is maintained in a state of arrested decay as a visitor attraction. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

A humanoid robot named Kansei, meaning “sensibility” in Japanese, makes a facial expression depicting “happiness”, next to the word “Love” during a demonstration at a laboratory of Meiji University's Robot and Science Institute in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo in this June 4, 2007 file photo. Three-fourths of robot installations over the next decade are expected to be concentrated in four areas: transportation equipment, including the automotive sector; computer and electronic products; electrical equipment and machinery. Labor costs have climbed in countries such as China that have been popular for outsourcing production, while technological advances for robots allow them to be more flexible and perform more tasks. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Reuters)

The Azerbaijan-based artist’s mixed-media installations include pieces entitled “Looking at two cities from one point of view”, “Plastik portret” and “Crisis haha”. Alakbarov carefully positions multicolored acrylic planes, packaging materials, and other objects of assorted shapes and then projects light upon then to create shadow images of beautiful beaches, cities, people, and even words.

View at one of the sculptures by Swiss artist H.R. Giger during the opening of the Ars Electronica 2013 exhibition “HR Giger. The Art of Biomechanics” in Linz, Austria, 04 September 2013. (Photo by EPA/RUBRA)

Storm chaser Brad Mack from Buena Park California videotapes a rotating supercell storm west of Newcastle, Texas April 9, 2013. Many of the storms in Tornado Alley that were forecast to be severe this week were taken out by a cold front from Canada. Picture taken April 9, 2013. (Photo by Gene Blevins/Reuters)

A visitor looks at a sculpture entitled “Couple Under an Umbrella, 2013” by artist Ron Mueck during the press day for his exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris April 15, 2013. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

Miss USA 2012 Nana Meriwether crowns Miss Connecticut USA Erin Brady the new Miss USA during the 2013 Miss USA pageant at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on June 16, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller)

This combination of April 15, 2013 and April 2, 2014 photos show a police officer clearing Boylston Street following a bomb blast near the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon, and pedestrians crossing at the same corner nearly a year later in Boston. (Photo by Charles Krupa/AP Photo)