Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

Armed with only paper, graphite and coloured pencils – plus his vivid imagination – the artist creates remarkable drawings that leap from the page when photographed. The 32-year-old, from Alkmaar in Holland, began experimenting with anamorphic 3D drawing five years ago. Photo: Ramon Bruin’s 3D illustration of two twins drawing each other. (Photo by Ramon Bruin/Medavia)

Adorable cartoonish characters created by a Brazilian illustrator Lucas Levian accentuate the most prominent details of the pictures that he has found on Instagram. The original photos were completely bland and uninteresting; however, Lucas Levitan manages to add a comical effect to them by skillfully adding a character that is doing something completely unexpected. Who would imagу placing a little guy with an iron onto the forehead of an old man? (Photo by Lucas Levitan)

David Rawcliffe, house and monument steward at the National Trust's Chedworth Roman Villa cleans a Roman mosiac in the new environmentally-controlled conservation shelter on March 19, 2012 near Cirencester, England. Opened this month, the multi-million pound building allows visitors to walk on suspended walkways just above the 1600-year-old Roman floors and to see recently excavated mosaics not seen for 150 years, with more to be uncovered over the coming year. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Israeli mounted policemen move crowds of Palestinian protestors during a demonstration marking Land Day in the east of the city on March 30, 2012 outside the old city of Jerusalem, Israel. Land Day, which began in 1976, marks the day Israeli forces killed six Palestinians during a protest against Israeli occupation of what Palestinians consider to be their land. Palestinians around the world will commemorate Land Day with protests and demonstrations. (Photo by Lior MizrahiGetty Images)

Dema and Manis, the 26-day-old endangered Sumatran Tiger cubs play together at the “Taman Safari Indonesia” Animal Hospital, on February 26, 2007 in Cisarua, Bogor Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The two Sumatran tiger-cubs recently born at the hospital have been rejected by their mother Cicis, while baby Orangutans, Irma and Nia have also been rejected by their mothers. All babies are being looked after by staff at the Animal Hospital. (Photo by: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images)

Casket of Leibby Kletzky, a murdered eight-year-old boy who went missing from the Hasidic neighborhood of Borough Park, Brooklyn is carried during a procession on July 13, 2011 in New York City. After a two day search Kletzky's dismembered body was found partially in a suitcase inside a dumpster and partially in a refrigerator in a nearby apartment. Police detectives have taken Levi Aron, 35, into custody in connection to the killing. (Photo by Ramin Talaie/Getty Images)