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)

Honor guards are viewed during an official welcoming ceremony for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by Albanian President Bajram Begaj, in Tirana, Albania on October 10, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was welcomed by Albanian President Bajram Begaj with an official ceremony ahead of their meeting. (Photo by Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A topless activist of women's rights group FEMEN tries to break a segment of the Berlin wall which is on display outside the German embassy, during a protest against EU visa regime for Ukrainian citizens in Kiev, Ukraine, November 24, 2016. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Mary Hickey poses with her collection of dolls at her home in Ashbourne, Ireland October 9, 2013. Hickey has been collecting the dolls for over thirty years and now owns over 420 dolls. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Lukas Irmler balances on a 800 meter long highline 200 meters above Segnesboden, on Friday, June 28, 2019, in Flims, Switzerland. The highline is Switzerland's longest and will be set up untill Sunday in the Sardona World Heritage Region. (Photo by Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP Photo)

Police, bystanders and soldiers aid a fallen soldier at the War Memorial as police respond to an apparent terrorist attack on October 22, 2014 in Ottawa, Canada. A gunman is believed to have shot a soldier as he was standing guard at the National War Memorial in Ottawa. It is believed police then chased the man into the main parliament building at Parliament Hill, where more shots were fired. (Photo by Wayne Cuddington/Postmedia/Barcroft Media/ABACAPress)

A festival-goer sings at Rock in Rio music festival while Brazilian rappers Veigh and Kayblack perform in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, September 13, 2024. (Photo by Hannah-Kathryn Valles/AP Photo)

A greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea apoda) displaying in Badigaki Forest, Wokam Island (Aru Islands, Indonesia). Found here in Aru and on adjacent New Guinea, the greater bird of paradise represents about 40 different species of birds of paradise that depend on intact rainforest across the New Guinea region spanning eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. With more than 80% of forest cover still intact, this region represents the largest remaining block of rainforest in the entire Asia-Pacific. (Photo by Tim Laman/naturepl.com/LDY Agency)