Angela Ponce, 24, (R) gets help from a fellow contestant getting dressed to compete in the "Miss World Spain" pageant in Estepona, southern Spain, October 25, 2015. Ponce, the first openly transsexual woman to compete to represent Spain at the Miss World pageant, was eliminated in the first knockout round. But Ponce already feels like a winner, she said, because her participation has brought visibility for the transgender community. "We need to educate society for diversity", Ponce said. (Photo by Susana Vera/Reuters)

Daniel Lismore arrives for the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, February 20, 2019. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Reuters)

American actress Lili Reinhart in the first decade of September 2022 shares a topless photo and calls herself “your little Venice b*tch”. (Photo by lilireinhart/Instagram)

Friends and relatives mourn by the coffin during the wake for Florjohn Cruz, who was killed in a police drugs buy-bust operation, in Manila, Philippines late October 20, 2016. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/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.

Thinku dancers perform during the "Senor del Gran Poder" (Lord of Great Power) parade in La Paz, May 30, 2015. According to local media, thousands of dancers participated in this annual pagan religious celebration. REUTERS/David Mercado

Figurines of former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Strelkov from the collection entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” are on display at a workshop in Moscow August 29, 2014. A Moscow-based maker of toy soldiers has sought inspiration for his creations from Ukrainian rebels fighting government troops in the east of Ukraine. Toy soldier maker, Timur Zamilov, displayed his new collection of rebel fighters cast in metal on Friday, before they are due to go on sale. His new collection is entitled “Toy Soldiers of Novorossiya” (New Russia), a reference to regions in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatist fighters want full independence. Zamilov's selection includes models of Cossack soldiers, volunteers, soldiers bearing anti-aircraft missiles and even a miniature of prominent rebel leader Igor Strelkov. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Miss Venezuela 2016 beauty pageant contestants take part in a practice session and media presentation in Caracas, Venezuela October 3, 2016. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)