A Hindu devotee offers prayers at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, to take a ritualistic bath during Makar Sankranti festival that falls during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela festival, one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism, in Prayagraj, India. Friday, January 14, 2022. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

A married Hindu woman performs rituals around a banyan tree at Vat Savitri festival in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Vat Savitri is celebrated on a full moon day where women pray for the longevity of their husbands. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

Pierre Thivillon (R), director of the zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine and his wife Eliane look at Digit, an 18-year-old female gorilla, on August 19, 2016, in Saint-Martin-La-Plaine between Lyon and Saint-Etienne, southeastern France. The zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine is a shelter for beasts seized by the justice. (Photo by Philippe Desmazes/AFP Photo)

A horse rears in the crowd during the traditional San Juan (Saint John) festival in the town of Ciutadella, on the Balearic Island of Minorca, on the eve of Saint John's day on June 23, 2022. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)

Madeline is the first person with Down's syndrome to ever stride down a runway as a model during New York Fashion Week. Here: Model Madeline Stuart stands backstage between two male models at New York Fashion Week in New York City, U.S., September 6, 2018. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Two sheep fight in a competition in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, China on August 1, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

Lightning strikes above Perch Rock Lighthouse in Merseyside, North West England on August 10, 2020. (Photo by Bav Media/The Sun)

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.