Portraits by Minneapolis photographer Alec Soth fill the cover of the New York Times Magazine's Jan. 23 issue. On assignment for the magazine, Soth went to Rockford, Ill. and photographed people in their work places to accompany a story about the Obama administration's efforts to revive the economy with a new jobs policy. As the magazine put it, Soth's photos "illustrate the human dimension of Peter Baker's cover article on the economy." See the photos here

The back-story about the five day photo project is on the magazine's blog