Switzerland's lead Nicole Schwaegli (L) and second Marisa Winkelhausen sweep during their curling round robin game against Japan at the World Women's Curling Championships in Sapporo March 14, 2015. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A staff member removes a coffin from a room of the “Corpse Hotel” in Kawasaki, Japan, April 20, 2016. Many so-called corpse hotels have emerged as a flourishing business in the city following a crunch in crematoriums. Families can rent a room in Sousou on a daily charge of 9,000 Japanese yen (£58, €74, $84) to keep the body of the deceased relative for up to four days until they find a crematorium. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Grand banqueting halls, opulent lobbies and vast ballrooms; you could easily be forgiven for thinking this was a collection of photographs was documenting some of Europe’s grandest hotels. However, a closer look will reveal the majestic rooms to be engulfed in swathes of dust and moss; hotels that once hosted royals and high society abandoned to the elements. This is the latest result of urban exploration photography, going beyond “no entry” signs to capture images of dilapidated buildings across Europe. IT worker Thomas Windisch, from Graz in Austria, indulged his passion for photography by traveling across the continent, visiting over 100 abandoned hotels along the way. Here: inside a hotel in Austria. (Photo by Thomas Windisch/Caters News)

French twins Thomas and Vincent (L) Seris take the tram in Bordeaux, November 12, 2014. Born with Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), the twins cannot be exposed to the sun and its ultraviolet (UV) light, which could provoke precocious cancers due to an autosomal recessive genetic disorder of DNA repair. Colloquially referred to as Children of the Night (Les Enfants de la Lune) the Seris twins are among 70 to 80 people in France who suffer from the genetic defect. The French association “Les Enfants de la Lune” reports that there are between five and ten thousand such cases in the world. Thomas and Vincent have been testing a new protective mask for the last year which is transparent and ventilated and developed by several hospitals in France. (Photo by Regis Duvignau/Reuters)

Vast collection of fine art photography about to open at Pier 24 in Manhattan. One of the world's most prestigious annual photography events, The Photography Show is the longest-running and foremost exhibition dedicated to the photographic medium, offering a wide range of museum-quality work, including contemporary, modern, and 19th-century photographs as well as photo-based art, video, and new media. Here: Les Trois Femmes Deux, 2018. (Photo by Mickalene Thomas/Courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York)

Militia members march in formation past Tiananmen Square during the military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of People's Republic of China, on its National Day in Beijing, China on October 1, 2019. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

A schoolgirl stands next to the Kenya-Uganda railway line during the partial reopening of schools, after the government scrapped plans to cancel the academic year due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya on October 12, 2020. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

A trader carries his mannequins as he closes his business ahead of the lockdown restrictions set by the government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Eastleigh district of Nairobi, Kenya on May 6, 2020. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)