Aug 5, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: Creepy Photos of Crumbling Soviet-Era Architecture

Rebecca Litchfield
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English photographer [Rebecca Litchfield](http://www.rebeccalitchfield.com/) braved radiation and KGB-style interrogation techniques to capture the crumbling remains of communism in a series called *[Soviet Ghosts](http://www.rebeccalitchfield.com/sovietghosts)*.
Rebecca Litchfield
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Soviet Communism was a brutal and ineffective political system, but produced stunning modern architecture.

Rebecca Litchfield
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Previous visitors and vandals are starting to strip the buildings for souvenirs.
Rebecca Litchfield
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This communist monument is perched atop a Bulgarian mountain and once housed thousands of party-members for mass rallies. Now its tile murals of hammers and sickles are cracking while sumptuous furnishings slowly decompose in a chilly mist.

Rebecca Litchfield
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The interior of the Bulgarian monument.
Rebecca Litchfield
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A photo shoot at a classified radar installation led to Litchfield's arrest by military officials who accused her of spying and threatened 15 years of prison for her transgression.

Rebecca Litchfield
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Once joyous playhouses have fallen into complete disrepair.
Rebecca Litchfield
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A thoroughly modern staircase in Estonia has not aged well.

Rebecca Litchfield
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Litchfield's images have the feel of documentary photography, but she sees herself as a fine artist first and often stages her pictures like still lifes to maximize their impact.
Rebecca Litchfield
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A satellite monitoring center in Russia.

Rebecca Litchfield
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A government building's lobby has frozen over as windows have cracked.
Rebecca Litchfield
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Some locations were downright macabre and Litchfield happened across a macabre mannequin soaked in blood in one basement.

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A traditionally built East German Bathhouse has held up surprisingly well.
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An abandoned Russian gymnasium.

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