Two miniature pigs, Brad Pigg and Gordon Hamsey, train for racing season at Monk Park Farm near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, UK on March 18, 2025. (Photo by James Glossop/Times Media Ltd)

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.

American actress Raquel Welch on a balcony overlooking a street in London, 1970. (Photo by Evening Standard). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

This picture taken on September 3, 2014 shows a man taking pictures of floodwater released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after torrential rains battered southwest China's Chongqing, a municipality in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, causing thousands of houses to collapse, state media said. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A spotted owlet appears to be playing peek-a-boo near Rancharda Lake in Ahmedabad, India on February 9, 2016. The species is common across the Indian subcontinent. (Photo by Caters News Agency)

Actress Bella Thorne attends the Teen Choice Awards 2015 at the USC Galen Center on August 16, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)

“Two Brothers”. We found about 20 lions eating a buffalo. When the male leaved the group we anticipated him to take photos. It is 8AM, light is perfect and the position too. The lion stops and looks down from the hill, another lion is coming up, it stiffens, I think that will be a fight, i'm tense, the camera is OK, the shots previously made perfect. The two meet, looking directly into their eyes, they sniff, rub against their heads, the tension drops, they start walking with the same step as when they were puppies, they are two brothers. Photo location: Masai Mara, Kenya. (Photo and caption by Massimo Mei/National Geographic Photo Contest)