Santa Claus rides in his sleigh as he prepares for Christmas in the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, Finland December 15, 2016. At Santa Claus' Lapland home in Finland, his helpers sort out piles of letters from around the world, each detailing children's requests for this Christmas. (Photo by Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters)

New York-based visual artist and filmmaker Rä di Martino has taken a series of eerie and beautiful photos that capture scenes of abandoned Hollywood film sets. Martino spent over a year traveling throughout the desert towns of Morocco and Tunisia hunting down the old Star Wars sets, exploring these massive structures that stand almost like ancient ruins. “No More Stars” showcases the backdrop of Luke Skywalker's home on the fictional desert planet Tatooine. (Photo by Rä di Martino)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

A pet horse tethered on land known as “The Cracker” in Tipton that may be seized by bailiffs on October 10, 2011 in Dudley, England. Horse lovers in Tipton are battling the local council over the tradition of keeping their horses tethered on public land near their homes. Locals say tradition that has been in existence for generations and believe it stems from the age of the canal when many local men used their horses to tow canal barges along the industrial Black Country canals. After a spate of horses running free Sandwell Council are now enforcing the law and impounding tethered horses. Locals are planning their next protest with a horse drive to the council headquarters to try and save their traditions. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

“Fernando Botero Angulo (born April 19, 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist. His works feature a figurative style, called by some “Boterismo”, which gives them an unmistakable identity. Botero depicts women, men, daily life, historical events and characters, milestones of art, still-life, animals and the natural world in general, with exaggerated and disproportionate volumetry, accompanied by fine details of scathing criticism, irony, humor, and ingenuity”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire view “Dancers” by artist Fernando Botero in the gardens of their home Chatsworth House on September 10, 2009, Chatsworth, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

This picture taken on May 31, 2018 shows a villager walking between abandoned houses covered with overgrown vegetation in Houtouwan on Shengshan island, China' s eastern Zhejiang province. Houtouwan was a thriving fishing community of sturdy brick homes that climb up the steeply hilled island of Shenghshan, but is now abandoned, with entire houses completely overgrown as if vacuum- sealed in a lush layer of green. (Photo by Johannes Eisele/AFP Photo)

Spanish matador Juan Jose Padilla looks at a bull during a bullfight at The Maestranza bullring in the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain April 25, 2015. (Photo by Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters)

A girl walks past a destroyed mosque in the town of Mararaba, after the Nigerian military recaptured it from Boko Haram, in Adamawa state May 10, 2015. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)