A group of colorful row houses are reflected on to the top of a black car parked on 3600 block of N street in the Georgetown section of Washington DC, February 16, 2017. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

A girl sticks out her tongue during snowfalls on a street in Hefei, Anhui province February 13, 2014. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)

In this September 19, 2019 file photo, an aircraft passes the rising sun during take off at the international airport in Frankfurt, Germany. Germany’s top court has ruled that the government has to set clear goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after 2030, arguing that current legislation doesn’t go far enough in curbing climate change. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo/File)

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.

New York Islanders' Matt Martin (17) and Pittsburgh Penguins' Zach Aston-Reese (12) fight during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Both players received a two-minute minor penalty. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)

Winner of the GWFF Best Feature Award Belarusian-American actress Dasha Nekrasova (L) and U.S. writer and editor Madeline Quinn pose at the 71st Berlinale International Film Festival ahead the awarding ceremony during the “Berlinale Summer Special” film festival in Berlin, Germany on June 13, 2021. (Photo by Tobias Schwarz/Pool via Reuters)

“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)