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)
Statuettes in various forms of the lost-wax casting process are seen, including the wax figure, wax mold, shell mold, and patina coated statute of “The Actor” during a media event on the production of the statuettes for the 21th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards at American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California January 13, 2015. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters)
An air tanker drops fire retardant on flames as firefighters continue to battle against the Detwiler fire in Mariposa, California on July 19, 2017. The Detwiler fire is currently at 7 percent containment and has burned more than 45,000 acres and destroyed eight structures. (Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP Photo)
A person stops to take a picture of the sun setting behind the San Francisco skyline as seen from Grizzly Peak Boulevard in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. (Photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP Photo)
A guest proposes to his companion as they arrive for the screening of “Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 23 May 2019. The movie is presented in the Official Competition of the festival which runs from 14 to 25 May. (Photo by Julien Warnand/EPA/EFE)