A girl walks to a synagogue of the Tzanz Hasidic dynasty community to read the Book of Esther, which tells the story of the Jewish festival of Purim, in Netanya, Israel, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. The Jewish holiday of Purim commemorates the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (Photo by Ariel Schalit/AP Photo)

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)

Visitors look up at mock-ups of dinosaur skeletons inside the Museum of Natural History in Pyongyang on September 28, 2016. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Andrew Parkinson, animal behaviour category winner: Crepuscular Contentment, Derbyshire. “In 15 years of working with badgers I’ve never seen a badger sit out in the open to have a scratch. I was sat concealed behind a tree and downwind so it was especially nice that the badger had his back to me, demonstrating just how inconspicuous and inconsequential my presence was”. (Photo by Andrew Parkinson/British Wildlife Photography Awards 2017)

British reality TV personality Scotty T (Scott Timlin) partied at the Aruba Nightlcub in Redcar, England last night, June 11, 2018 and fans couldn't wait to see his new Tattoo. Scotty just whipped down his kegs and showed anyone who asked, with a queue of 200 girls it was quite a night. One girl asking to kiss his bottom whilst most just wanted a glimpse of his new Stephen Bear Tattoo. (Photo by Blackburn/Backgrid)

Alexandra Mazo, 12, with her cellphone on her way down the mountain after finishing school. The remote mountain village of Pueblo Nuevo has been highly affected by the armed conflict and direct combat between the national army and Farc guerrillas due to its strategic location and the intensive production on coca crops on the surrounding hillsides. (Photo by Mads Nissen/Politiken/The Guardian/Panos Pictures/The Nobel Peace Center)

A man rides a golden motorbike on a street in Bangkok, Thailand on August 14, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)