Photo: Kevin Faingnaert

There’s a set of islands in the middle of the chilly North Atlantic, some of which are so sparsely populated that the residents wouldn’t even fill a classroom. The Faroe Islands, an archipelago comprising 18 islands halfway between Scotland and Iceland, make up in an eclectic culture and stunning views what it lacks in population size.

The villages on the smallest and toughest islands have seen a sharp decline in population over time. In a lot of villages, half of the houses stand empty. The Faroese are constantly moving away from the smallest villages, settling in the bigger, main villages. Young Faroese people move abroad—mainly to Denmark, to travel or to pursue a higher education, and mostly they don’t return to their hometown afterwards.

I spent a month on the Faroe Islands last February. My goal was to visit and document life in these incredibly quiet, remote villages. The resulting series is called Føroyar, which is the name of the country in Faroese—a language that is spoken in the world mostly by people living on the islands, or who have moved elsewhere from the islands.

Photo: Children playing soccer in the village of Nes on Eysturoy Island. Population: 29.