On a long-distance bicycle trip from London to St. Petersburg in 2002, photographer Chris Herwig encountered something unexpected in the barren post-Soviet landscapes—artsy, unusual, and almost spaceship-like bus stops. The more he rode, the more he came across such unique transit structures.

As Herwig traveled through and later began living in post-Soviet states, he would keep an eye out for unusual bus stops. Having grown up in Canada, he says that the U.S.S.R. was always a mystery to him. Something dark and inexplicable. It fascinated him to find colorful, almost celebratory structures in a land that was once so rigidly governed.

“Wondering why they existed was one of the driving forces that had me fascinated with the bus stops,” he