Travel photographer Amos Chapple recently crossed into Turkmenistan on a three-day transit visa and was able to photograph many of the sights and monuments in Ashgabat, the capital and largest city. Turkmenistan is a single-party country, a former Soviet state, run by a president at the center of a cult of personality.

Photo: A young couple leave the Alem Entertainment Center in Ashgabat. The current president has a history of breaking obscure records. In 2012 the wheel atop this complex was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest enclosed Ferris wheel. The structure was built at a cost of $90m. (Photo by Amos Chapple via The Atlantic)

Four-year-old Riley Gillet, of Orlando, lights a candle with her family, marking the beginning of the traditional Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, during the Chabad of Greater Orlando's “Chanukah on the Park” celebration in Winter Park, Fla., late Sunday, November 28, 2021. Held at Central Park, the event included the lighting of a giant menorah, live performers, music and dancing. Jews worldwide will celebrate Hanukkah through Dec. 6. (Photo by Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP Photo)

A demonstrator dances as riot police try to prevent LGBT rights activists gather for a Pride parade, which was banned by local authorities, in central in Istanbul, Turkey on June 26, 2021. (Photo by Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)

A person waving the rainbow flag runs on the pitch as the players line up for the national anthems the UEFA EURO 2020 Group F football match between Germany and Hungary at the Allianz Arena in Munich on June 23, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Pool via AFP Photo)

A newly born albino red-necked wallaby joey eats as it is being carried by its mother in their enclosure at the zoo in Decin, Czech Republic, May 18, 2022. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

The males, of the Oriental Garden species, are battling over territory in Solapur in the Maharashtra state, India on May 20, 2022. Occasionally, the tussle can be brutal, ending in a fatality with one lizard biting another to encourage them to retreat. (Photo by Ratnakar Hiremath/Solent News)

An Asian elephant cools off at the zoo during the World Elephant Day in Lodz, central Poland, 12 August 2022. The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12. (Photo by Grzegorz Michalowski/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)