To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

Young conductors stand in line during the steam locomotive presentation at the Kyiv Children's Railway Station on July 3, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. According to the railway's operators, the Gr-336 locomotive was built in Germany in 1951 and brought to Kyiv as part of reparations in the wake of World War II. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

Jubilee Class steam locomotive 45596 Bahamas crosses the Forth Bridge on its way from Edinburgh Waverley to Aberdeen on a day trip operated by The Railway Touring Company on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

Steam comes out of the chimneys of the coal-fired power station Neurath near the Garzweiler open-cast coal mine in Luetzerath, Germany, Monday, October 25, 2021. The climate change conference COP26 will start next Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Henry Leese drives a 1952 British Rail Ivatt number 46512 at Strathspey Steam Railway on August 27, 2013 in Aviemore,Scotland. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Highland Main Line built as a transportation link to the South for lairds and landowners living in northern Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell)

The Red Arrows make a flypast during the Trooping The Colour parade at Buckingham Palace, in London, Saturday, June 13, 2015. Hundreds of soldiers in ceremonial dress have marched in London in the annual Trooping the Color parade to mark the official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. The Trooping the Color tradition originates from preparations for battle, when flags were carried or "trooped" down the rank for soldiers to see. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

The Rio de Janeiro Olympics kick off on August 5 for some two weeks of competitive games drawing athletes as well as audiences from around the world. As they prepare to cover the event, Reuters photographers look back on their favourite pictures from past Olympics where they captured the action on the ground as well as the participants' tears and joy that followed. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

At the end of a six-year relationship, photographer Laura Stevens needed to find a creative, external outlet for all the complicated feelings she was processing internally. “Another November” is the end product, a photo series that aims to mirror those agonizing emotions that Stevens felt at the time of the breakup – and the subsequent healing process. Here: “Jessica” is photographed at her Paris home in this scene staged by photographer Laura Stevens. (Photo by Laura Stevens)