A miniature model of Chichen Itza in Mexico, part of Gulliver's Gate, a miniature world being recreated in a 49,000-square-foot exhibit space in Times Square, is seen during a preview April 10, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

A robot is seen on Mount Etna, Italy on July 4, 2017. Mount Etna, in Sicily, is a test bed for the approximately three-foot high, four-wheeled machine ahead of a future mission to the moon. It is being conducted by the German Aerospace Centre, the agency which runs Germany's space programme. (Photo by Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

Nadeea Volianova the Russian Pop Star's bizarre, naked New Years “Art Installation” featuring an American flag, the named Putin and Trump in huge letters and the singer wearing a space helmet and not much else, Art Threat Gallery, Las Vegas, NV on December 29, 2016. (Photo by S_bukley/Splash News and Pictures)

Heartlyn Rae duo (Alexis Driscoll and Julia Frys) poses for a picture in Barbie's Space Center during the World of Barbie immersive experience preview in Santa Monica, California, U.S., April 12, 2023. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

U.S. Air Force Major Paul “Loco” Lopez performs in an F-22 Raptor during the AirPower Over Hampton Roads JBLE Air and Space Expo at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, U.S. May 18, 2018. (Photo by U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Areca T. Bell/Handout via Reuters)

Here Goes River captures Japanese photographer Aya Fujioka’s home town of Hiroshima in 2017. The award-winning series documents the quiet, everyday spaces of the city – mundane, almost incidental scenes that are suffused with the invisible weight of the past. (Photo by Aya Fujioka)

Nurse's Home, North Brother Island, New York. Photographer Christopher Payne specializes in the documentation of America’s vanishing architecture and industrial landscape. His new book, North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City, explores an uninhabited island of ruins in the East River of New York City. (Photo by Christopher Payne)

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.