Photographer Brings International Flavor to Belleville

A local photographer has seen the world, from Europe to Asia. She has provided a photo to an American reality television star and a major international awards show. But Hena Tayeb still chooses to call the Belleville-Nutley area home.

Hena Tayeb of Hena Tayeb Photography has photographed her specialty, architecture, everywhere from different parts of Europe to Iran and Malaysia. She currently is involved in a photo for a gift bag specially made for a Real Housewives of New Jersey reality star. She also had her work included in gifts bags for last year’s Golden Globe Awards.

Before all that, Tayeb’s colorful life took her from her birth in Chicago, back to her parents’ native land of Pakistan at age 10, with many stops along the way.

She brings this wealth of experience to her photo studio in Belleville. The area feels like home, Tayeb said.

“I’ve been here four years, and was on the Nutley side of Main Street, renting at first,” she said. “Then my husband and I moved to a slightly bigger place, but we chose to stay in Belleville.”

For her husband, Mustafa, the commute to New York City is ideal from Belleville, she said.

Another great aspect of living in Belleville, Tayeb said, is that her son can enjoy Branch Brook Park, where shooting photos of the Cherry Blossom trees was especially “a passion.” Her son, Daanyal, is barely a year old, but the school district was an attraction, she said.

The love of photography started for Tayeb when she attended college in Pakistan, minoring in photography. She then got married and made her way back to the United States with her Pakistani born husband.

Her career began to take off with an exhibit in South Jersey, and then she had her photos displayed at Studio 580, a photo gallery near New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Tayeb’s latest endeavor has her associated with the Artisan Group, which brought her to last year’s Golden Globes, where her photography was featured in the presenters’ gift bags.

Now, she has another project as part of the Artisan’s collaborative gift bag program, preparing a special bag for Bethenny, best known for her part in the Real Housewives of New York. The bag includes Tayeb’s five by seven, limited edition photograph, “Gone,” taken in Upstate New York.

“This gift bag is more of a one-on-one project, with only 20 or 30 being prepared,” Tayeb said. “Bethenny should be getting her bag in the next week or so.”

Tayeb loves to find unusual abstracts and angles allowing the ordinary to appear extraordinary, according to information she provided. She said she, “zooms in and brings light to the details of things around me, creating abstracts and bringing attention to textures and patterns.”

She, her husband and the couple’s son love to travel. She said the travel allows her to capture her adventures in bold, high contrast, dramatic photographs.

All photographs are limited editions of 100, she said. They are numbered, signed and dated, and are printed on premium quality, acid free, archival paper, for a photograph with sharp details, according to Tayeb.

To learn more about Hena Tayeb Photography, or the studio’s participation in The Artisan Group's celebrity gifting initiatives, visit www.henatayebphotography.com, call 917-355-8553 or email henaabbas@hotmail.com. For inquiries regarding The Artisan Group,  visit http://www.theartisangroup.org