This picture taken on July 25, 2014 shows people cooling off in a waterpark in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan province. Meteorological departments issued an orange alert for high temperature as a heat wave embraces Sichuan province, with temperature of most area topped 37, local media reported. (Photo by AFP Photo)

“This is a shot I have envisioned in my head for a while, and only possible to shoot today with the invention of the GoPro. Shot at a beach break near my home. The board broke on this wave, but the vision made it worthwhile. Shot with the GoPro Hero 3+ and a Gripstick Pro Mount”. (Photo and caption by Mike Coots)

Kashmiri children play with snow on a wooden foot bridge in the interiors of Dal Lake in Srinagar on January 16, 2017. A cold wave has further tightened its grip in Jammu and Kashmir, with most places in the state recording sub-zero temperatures. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Photo)

A skater observes pancakes snow on the frozen Lake des Rousses in Les Rousses, central-eastern France, on January 1, 2025. This phenomenon forms when slushy ice in water clumps into round, pancake-like shapes due to waves or currents. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)

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.

Large waves break at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast,, Queensland, Australia, 05 June 2016. Recent wild weather unleashed heavy rainfalls, powerful winds and abnormally high tides in Southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. (Photo by Dan Peled/EPA)

Food affected villagers cross flood waters through a bamboo bridge in the flood affected Morigaon district of Assam state, India, 05 July 2016. Continuous rain since last couple of days inundated six districts of Assam effecting more than 100 thousand people in the second wave of floods in Assam state. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

A fan waves a Brazilian flag before the arrival of the Olympic torch ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 2, 2016 in Sao Goncalo, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. The torch will arrive in the city of Rio tomorrow and the Games commence on August 5. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)