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An Artist Brings Life Back to Russia's Abandoned Villages

Alexei Mednoy captured a "Disappearing Way of Life" in his unusual art project.

In Ivanovo oblast not far from Moscow, one in four villages has been abandoned in the last decade.

An artist, Alexei Mednoy, grew up in a village but hadn't been back for about 15 years after his father died. When he returned, he found silent and empty houses, slowly falling down amid overgrown fields.

He decided to "repopulate" them with his portraits.