When Bethany Morrison, a model, contacted Braylen Dion, a photographer, early last year with an idea for a photo shoot, Ms. Morrison had worked out every detail except for a location.
“She already had the stylist, makeup artist and the hair she wanted to do,” said Mr. Dion, 22, who lives in New York. But Ms. Morrison, 25, was at a loss for ideas when it came to the very specific setting she sought: a space with retro décor and warm tones that would complement her outfit (leopard-print bodysuit) and hairstyle (blond Afro) for the shoot.
After some deliberation, they booked a loft inside a South Bronx building that was once a piano factory. It got plenty of sunlight through its 10-foot windows and was furnished with cantilevered Cesca chairs — a style originally designed in 1928 by Marcel Breuer — and a dining table by Edward Wormley, a maker known for his midcentury pieces.
