Rebecca Litchfield

* * * *

As Rebecca Litchfield, she recorded many abandoned locations within 10 countries of the former Soviet Union, including towns, factories, prisons, schools, monuments, hospitals, theatres, military complexes, asylums and death camps. Her book Soviet Ghosts examines a society shrouded by the Cold War. Bathory's second book explores the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. 2016 was the first time that residents of the town of Tomioka were given permission to return to their homes; Bathory was also given permission to photograph in the thirty-mile exclusion zone. Bathory produced never-before-seen images of the ghost town of Fukushima, providing a meditation on human failure and pondering what might be next for a nuclear future. In 2016 Bathory photographed her third book Dark Tourism, travelling around the world to 20 countries to visit 100 "dark tourist" sites in the UK, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy, Mexico, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, India, USA, Indonesia, Ukraine and Cuba. The phrase dark tourism conjures up images and ideas of destinations associated with death, suffering, tragedy and the macabre. Dark tourism is a very visual practice, like tourism in general. It involves seeing potentially tragic sites with one's own eyes, and in most cases, photographing it to prolong the moment. Bathory's fourth book Orphans of Time was self-published, and contains 200 colour photos of abandoned buildings. Since 2012 she travelled around the world for five years, seeking out beautiful locations featuring decay.

• 2009: Professional Photographer of the Year 2009 Overall Winner, Professional Photographer magazine • 2009: Fashion category winner, Professional Photographer of The Year 2009, Professional Photographer magazine • 2014: Clapham Art Prize Winner, Clapham Art Prize award