Gallery: Creepy Photos of Crumbling Soviet-Era Architecture

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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    russia-19

    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)*.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    Soviet Communism was a brutal and ineffective political system, but produced stunning modern architecture.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    Previous visitors and vandals are starting to strip the buildings for souvenirs.
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    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.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
    05

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    The interior of the Bulgarian monument.
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    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.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
    07

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    Once joyous playhouses have fallen into complete disrepair.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    A thoroughly modern staircase in Estonia has not aged well.
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    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.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    A satellite monitoring center in Russia.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    A government building's lobby has frozen over as windows have cracked.
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    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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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    A traditionally built East German Bathhouse has held up surprisingly well.
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    Rebecca Litchfield
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    An abandoned Russian gymnasium.
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