Minnesota-based photographer Alec Soth, who is known for his haunting portraits of solitary Americans, recently turned his lens toward community life in the United States for his upcoming book, Songbook. For two years, Soth assumed the increasingly rare role of small-town newspaper reporter and traveled to events around the country while working for his self-published paper, The LBM Dispatch.

The Sean Kelly gallery in New York is exhibiting a selection of his work, seen below, and states, "With Songbook, Soth has stripped these pictures of their news context in order to highlight the longing for personal connection at their root. Evocative, fragmentary, funny and sad, the work is a lyrical depiction of the tension between American individualism and the desire to be united."

Bil. Sandusky, Ohio, 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Miss Model contestants. Cleveland, Ohio, 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Crazy Legs Saloon. Watertown, New York, 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Jesse. Dover Burial Park. Dover, Ohio, 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Near Gainesville, Georgia., 2014. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Near Kaaterskill Falls, New York., 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Prom 2. Cleveland, Ohio., 2012. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

Near San Antonio, Texas., 2013. Courtesy Alec Soth/Sean Kelly, New York

The first exhibition will open at Sean Kelly, NY on January 30, followed by openings at Fraenkel Gallery, in San Francisco on February 5 and Weinstein Gallery, in Minneapolis, on February 20. Additional work my Alec Soth can be seen on his website, alecsoth.com. Additional information about the Sean Kelly exhibition can be seen on their website, www.skny.com. Visit ABCNews.com/photos for more feature photography curated by the ABC News photo editors.