The Dying Villages project

For three months each winter, Alberto lives in the village of Valbueno, Omana, Spain, entirely alone. 'Just me and the cows' Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk A villager smiles in Villabandin, Omana, Spain, in 2007. 'We worked hard, but we were happy. Not a bad one among us. Not one' Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk Father Georgy in Karabanova, Kostroma, Russia, in 2008. 'I'm building a church in each emptying village in the parish. Why? Because I am a priest' Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk Rima, in Kozino, Kostroma, Russia, pictured in 2008, is the sole inhabitant of her village. 'I stay because I like village life' Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk Village women knit in Pobladura de la Sierra, Castilla y León, Spain. The majority of those left in Europe's depopulating villages are women Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk A villager in Medvedki, Kostroma, Russia in 2008 answers a request for a song: 'These teeth aren't for singing any more, only swearing' Photograph: Tom Pow Photograph: guardian.co.uk Jacks from a Dying Village and Boule from a Dying Village (2010) by Tom Pow and Elizabeth Waugh Photograph: Abby Burn Photograph: guardian.co.uk The Book of Years (2010) by Tom Pow and the Busy Bees of Ae Village, from a display of artefacts entitled The Suitcase of the Dying Village Photograph: Abby Burn Photograph: guardian.co.uk Willow, Heather, Bog Myrtle, Moss, Grass, Peat (2009) by Lizzie Farey, from The Suitcase of the Dying Village Photograph: Abby Burn Photograph: guardian.co.uk Relic (2008) by Tom Pow, from The Suitcase of the Dying Village. Made from felt boot trimming found in a box in Glebovo, Kostroma, Russia Photograph: Abby Burn Photograph: guardian.co.uk Tom Pow sits beneath the Tree of Dying Villages during his residency at the Scottish Poetry Library in April this year Photograph: Lilias Fraser Photograph: guardian.co.uk