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Abandoned military bases, deserted hospital wards and
cinemas which are now just a shadow of their former glory - these are
the haunting images of the ghosts behind the former Soviet Union's Iron
Curtain. Photographer Rebecca Litchfield risked radiation exposure and
was even arrested and interrogated in her bid to photograph army
barracks, laboratories, graveyards for old fighter jets, silos and gyms.
Litchfield, 32, from south-east London, travelled to nine countries that
were part of the Soviet Union or accepted as satellite states for her
book 'Soviet Ghosts'. Her first visit was to Chernobyl, the site of a
catastrophic nuclear accident in 1986, in October 2012. She went on to
visit places in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the former East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She said:
'Not many explorers travel to Russia, where the rules are very
different, locations are heavily guarded and a strong military presence
exists everywhere. 'There are serious consequences for getting caught.
We managed to stay hidden for all of the trip, we maximised our stealth,
ducking and diving into bushes and sneaking past sleeping security. 'But
on day three our good fortune ran out as we visited a top secret radar
installation. We saw the radar and made our way towards it, but just
metres away suddenly we were joined by military and they weren't happy.'
After some negotiations however the photographer and her companions were
allowed to continue their journey through the former USSR.
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Photographer Rebecca Litchfield travelled to nine countries that were
part of the Soviet Union or accepted as satellite states for her book
'Soviet Ghosts'. This picture was taken at Buzludzha, in Bulgaria
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Ms Litchfield said: 'Some people may see
the ruins of this time as destructive but I see the beauty in the decay
like a memory hanging on that will soon be lost in a breeze.' Pictured
is a Soviet submarine
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A MAV 424 steam train sits in a dilapidated unit in Hungary. The
photographer has decided not to reveal the exact locations of the
abandoned buildings
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Ms Litchfield risked radiation exposure and was even arrested and
interrogated in her bid to picture the remains of the Soviet empire.
Pictured is the Pripyat fairground which never officially opened because
of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
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Ms Litchfield visited places in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the
former East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Pictured is an abandoned German hospital
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A former Russian cinema lies abandoned, a shadow of its former self,
with rubble strewn across the floor and wallpaper hanging from the walls
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The photographer said she refrains 'from having personal opinions about
the era' and tries 'to remain relatively neutral.' Pictured is the
Patarei Prison, in Estonia
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An abandoned military rocket base in Slovakia has been allowed to fall
into disrepair, with rubble and waste lying on the ground
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Medical equipment, beds, bottles and babies' cots were left behind at
the Pripyat hospital after it had to be abandoned suddenly due to the
Chernobyl disaster
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A fighter jet with damage to its nose lies in a vehicle graveyard in
Latvia. Ms Litchfield said: 'It was not a period of pure black and white
and so my aim of the book was to just capture it as it was now'
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