Nat CastañedaNovember 23, 2016Comment

Election news gets woven into everyday NYC life

Nat CastañedaNovember 23, 2016Comment

Passers-by snap selfies at Trump Tower. Protesters decry the president-elect in his hometown. And the everyday, impromptu beauty of America's biggest city keeps playing out in moments as fleeting as the flap of a street vendor's primary-colored umbrella against a darkening sky.

This is a composite portrait of post-election New York City, as seen through the lens of a visitor from abroad. Muhammed Muheisen, The Associated Press' chief photographer for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, made these images while in New York for meetings at the AP's headquarters during the past two weeks.

In this Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 photo, a group of women pose for a selfie outside Trump Tower in New York. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Monday, Nov. 14, 2016 photo, a woman reads a newspaper featuring on its front page an image of President-elect Donald Trump while going down an escalator of a subway station in New York. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Monday, Nov. 14, 2016 photo, pedestrians pass a man holding a sign outside Trump Tower in New York. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016 photo, a girl looks at anti- President-elect Donald Trump notes placed on a wall in the Union Square Subway Station in New York. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

In this Friday, Nov. 11, 2016 photo, demonstrators hold signs and shout slogans during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump at Washington Square Park in New York. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

Muheisen was struck by how much the city seemed immersed in the news of Republican Donald Trump's Nov. 8 victory and how much the news seemed enmeshed in the city.

Walking around town, Muheisen saw signs of the election everywhere from a giant screen near Times Square to the front page of a newspaper being read on a subway station escalator. The reaction played out in streets and parks where anti-Trump protesters gathered, and on a sidewalk outside Trump Tower where a man held a sign declaring, "He's my president."

"I come almost twice a year, and it felt different this time — there's national news, it's everywhere ... so I was inspired by that," says Muheisen, who is based in Amman, Jordan.

Yet he also captured other moments that make New York itself: skyscrapers reflected on the side of a tour bus, the glow of a fruit vendor's illuminated stall at dusk, one Buddhist monk photographing another in Central Park.

Muheisen's images show a city where both news and life are unfolding in every direction. Where anytime "you turn around, you will witness a totally other scene," he says.

"This is New York, where life never stops but keeps going."