A general view of the ghost town of a former Soviet military radar station near Skrunda, Latvia, April 9, 2016. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Participants cross cold and muddy waters during the Strong Race competition near Tukums May 4, 2014. About 6500 people competed in this extreme running race, which includes cross-country running, elements of agility and power discipline. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Participants compete during the Strong Race event near Tukums, Latvia, May 3, 2015. More than 4,000 people participated in this 9 km endurance race with 33 different obstacles. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

People wear costumes as they participate in the ancient Yule Log dragging tradition during winter solstice celebrations in Riga, Latvia, December 21, 2015. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

People use snowshoes during a tour of the Great Kemeri Bog, Latvia, October 17, 2015. The Kemeri bog is more than 8,000 years old and is one of the largest dry moss swamps in the Baltics. A more than decade-long joint restoration of the bog by the European Union and the Latvian government helped the bog recover its high moss marshes, damp black alder forests, floodplain meadows and seaside lakes – features now considered rare in Europe due to industrialisation. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

This artwork created using the end of a drill is the work of Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner who captures the flight of paint in just one 40,000th of a second. His latest Black Hole series celebrates the physics of centripetal force and the effects it has on simple paint and a an ordinary drill with a metal rod connected on the end. The incredible result of Fabians work comes out looking like a picture taken on the Hubble Telescope of some cosmic event. (Photo by Fabian Oefner/Caters News)

“Residents in a small town littered with giant potholes may be ready to “crack” the art world – after turning their massively damaged roads into hilarious masterpieces. Fun-natured drivers from Scranton, Pennsylvania have been challenged by an arts group to turn the ugly craters in their neighborhood into pothole art”. – Caters News. Photo: Cereal bowl pothole. (Photo by Caters News)

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.