CASE STUDY - OLYMPIA DUMBO

The Approach

Large-scale new development photography isn’t just one shoot. It’s an ongoing creative partnership. At Olympia, the work unfolded across multiple phases over roughly two years. Each phase had its own objectives, spaces, and deliverables.

Before I ever picked up a camera, I joined the planning conversations. We developed shot lists together with the marketing team, reviewed floor plans in advance, and held dedicated prep calls to align on priorities, timing, and creative direction for every stage. That kind of thorough pre-production is what keeps a complex, multi-phase project on track and ensures nothing falls through the cracks.

From across the East River at blue hour, we captured the tower standing tall amid the glowing waterfront with the historic Empire Stores and Jane’s Carousel in the foreground. This view really places the building in its rich cultural context.

From street level in Brooklyn Bridge Park, we photographed the tower rising on the right beside the historic Clocktower, while the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline (including One World Trade Center) fill the left side of the frame with fall foliage in the foreground.

We took an elevated shot to highlight the elegant curved facade up close, with the Manhattan Bridge looming behind it and the East River visible below. Warm interior lights add depth and richness to the image.

Marketing value: Together, these four images give a complete sense of the building’s scale, setting, and lifestyle. The dawn shot works as the perfect hero image for campaigns and press, while the others help buyers imagine what it would actually feel like to live here.

The lobby makes a strong first impression. A large commissioned installation by Jacob Hashimoto, made of hundreds of hand-painted discs, floats above the rich red-toned wood reception desk, giving the space a calm, boutique hotel feel. These shots show Olympia as a curated, art-forward building rather than a typical residential tower.

Photographed from outside at night, the lobby glows warmly through the full-height glass, with the art installation visible inside. The reflective glass and soft light create a cinematic image. Night shots of glowing lobbies are powerful marketing tools that create aspiration and work well as closing images.

A straight-on dusk shot of the building’s main entrance highlights the full scale of the concrete columns and double-height glazing. Adding a receptionist at the desk was a key creative choice. It communicates the building’s level of service and shows prospective buyers that this is a fully staffed, secure, and welcoming home.

Marketing value: Grand architecture alone doesn’t convey luxury living. The human element does. A staffed reception desk confirms that residents are genuinely looked after.

Olympia offers something rare in DUMBO: a private driveway leading directly to an underground garage. This gives residents a seamless, hotel-caliber arrival experience in a dense neighborhood. The composition features the warm glow of the wood-clad entrance canopy, the private drive receding into the frame, and a car placed deliberately in the foreground to activate the scene and tell the full story.

Marketing value: In a dense urban neighborhood, a private garage and dedicated driveway is a genuine differentiator. This image communicates that without a word of copy.

Olympia’s playground centers on a full-scale shipwreck structure with masts, rope bridges, a slide, cannons, and wooden barrels. We brought it to life with a bubble machine, colorful props like cones and toys scattered across the play surface, and the building’s glass facade rising behind it.

Marketing value: Family amenities are often an afterthought in luxury marketing. This image makes them a selling point, showing that Olympia designed children’s experiences with the same intention and quality as everything else in the building, in a joyful and unforgettable way.

The outdoor pool was styled with floats, towels, loungers, sunglasses, a camera, and sunflowers to feel occupied and alive. Shot in full daylight, the turquoise water pops against the Manhattan Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline. The images range from joyful and vibrant to intimate and personal.

Marketing value: The styling and timing give buyers multiple ways to picture themselves here, turning an amenity into a true lifestyle.

A rooftop tennis court with the Lower Manhattan skyline as a backdrop is one of the building's most compelling differentiators, and the team approached it with the same level of creative intention given to every other space in this project. We coordinated with a local tennis club and invited players to participate in the shoot, bringing the court to life with genuine energy and movement. We styled every court-side detail — the sports bags, the rackets, the accessories placed along the sideline — to feel considered and real. We shot from different distances and angles to build a set that captures both the intimacy of the game and the full scale of the court against the city behind it. The result is a set of images that feel spontaneous — which is precisely what required the most planning to achieve.

Marketing value: The combination of players in motion, Sam's careful styling on the court-side details, and that skyline creates images that work equally well for press, advertising, and digital — and communicate one of the building's most unique amenities in the most compelling way possible.

We photographed the tower rising above the surrounding DUMBO streets with the BQE and Brooklyn skyline behind it. The warm glow of the lit interiors against the fading sunrise makes the building feel alive and welcoming right away.

The outdoor dining and BBQ terrace was shot in early evening golden light. Styling made it feel like a real dinner in progress, with the Manhattan Bridge and glowing downtown skyline in the background.

Marketing value: Lifestyle imagery shines when it puts the buyer in a specific, believable moment. This set shows not just that the terrace exists, but exactly how you’d use it.

The dry sauna and steam room used restrained styling (towels, robes, a few accessories) to let the architecture and materials shine, emphasizing genuine wellness and restoration.

Marketing value: These images position Olympia as a building that actively supports how residents feel every day.

The indoor lap pool and juice bar were treated as connected parts of the same wellness story. For the pool, we timed the shoot to capture beautiful natural light and the rippling reflections across the white walls, which became the defining feature of the images. The styling team arranged towels and loungers so the space felt both thoughtfully designed and naturally lived-in.

For the juice bar, we focused on making it feel genuinely curated rather than simply stocked, with fresh produce and juice bottles arranged as if someone had just prepared them.

Marketing value: These spaces together show a building that has thought carefully about every part of resident health and daily ritual, from the lap pool to what you drink afterward. That level of intention is exactly what buyers at this price point are looking for.

The outdoor cabana lounge was one of the spaces where our creative direction showed clearly in the final images. The team knew that intimate outdoor settings like this can easily feel generic without careful attention, so we approached it with the same level of intention we gave every other space in the project. The cream upholstery layered with earthy pillows, the bold red coffee table, the dark wood slat screens, and the lush planting all worked together to make the space feel more like a boutique hotel terrace than a shared amenity deck.

Marketing value: Private outdoor retreats within a shared residential building need the right imagery to feel convincing. This set makes it look entirely real and genuinely desirable.

The residents’ lounge and guest waiting area needed a composition that showed both the scale of the space and the quality of its design without overstating either. Deep navy lounge seating runs along one side, warm wood paneling covers the full length of the walls, and natural light enters through a large window at the far end, offering a glimpse of greenery. The corridor framing was a deliberate choice that emphasizes the depth and length of the space while giving it a quiet, understated luxury that feels right for a building of this caliber.

Marketing value: A well-designed guest waiting area shows buyers that the building has considered every part of the resident experience, including how visitors are received. This image communicates that without needing to explain it.

The fitness floor and boxing studio were treated as one cohesive visual story. Together, they show a wellness offering built to a standard that rivals any private members’ club in the city. The matte black boxing column, with its wall-mounted cognac leather gloves, hanging jump ropes, suspended punching bag, and medicine ball tucked into a custom alcove, became the visual anchor of the entire floor. Sam styled the surrounding space with precision, placing dumbbells, boxing gloves, and Olympia-branded water bottles on the floor to make it feel genuinely inhabited. The wider frames show the full depth and breadth of the fitness floor, while the tighter detail shot highlights the craft and materiality of the boxing station itself, showing that the building has a strong aesthetic point of view down to how it stores its equipment.

Marketing value: Together these images tell a story no single frame could capture — from the full scope of the fitness offering to the considered details that set it apart.

The bowling alley was shot from two distinct angles to capture both the space's architecture and the feeling of being inside it. The wide establishing frame shows the full length of the lanes, with pale maple wood leading toward the blue-lit pins. The closer, low-angle places the viewer in the bowler’s perspective, with two balls positioned mid-lane drawing the eye toward the glowing pins at the far end. Together, the two frames show a space that is as beautifully designed as anything else in the building and completely unexpected in a residential setting.

Marketing value: A private bowling alley is one of the most conversation-stopping amenities a building can offer. These images present it with the drama and precision it deserves.

The club lounge was one of the most richly layered spaces in the project. The styling team gave it their full attention, styling the wider frame to feel both grand and inviting. In the tighter frame, they added stone tables, a vase of flowers, and a stack of design books to the banquette alcove, making the space feel personal and lived-in rather than staged.

Marketing value: Together, these two frames communicate both the scale and the intimacy of a space designed for residents to genuinely gather and linger, at a level of design that speaks directly to discerning buyers.

The children’s playroom is one of the most joyful and visually distinctive spaces in the building, so it deserved a composition that fully honored that spirit. We team styled the room to feel genuinely ready for play, with a large lighthouse structure and slide as the centerpiece, small tables and stools, and children’s books casually open on the surfaces.

Marketing value: Family buyers need to see that a building has thought about their children with the same seriousness it has applied to everything else. This image makes that case in a way that is both powerful and completely unforgettable.

The living room was approached with three distinct compositional intentions — wide, mid, and detail — to tell the complete story of the space. Together, these elements create a moment of quiet, layered luxury that communicates the residence’s design intelligence at an editorial level.

Marketing value: A living room set that works at every scale — wide enough to sell the space, detailed enough to sell the quality. Together, these three frames cover everything a buyer needs to understand about this room.

The primary bedroom was one of those spaces where timing made all the difference. We shot it in the warm evening light to show how the room actually feels at the end of the day. Our team styled it to feel genuinely lived in, layering the bed with soft linens and a casual throw, and creating a natural reading nook by the window.

Marketing value: Evening light and considered styling together communicate how a room feels to live in. This image answers the question every buyer is really asking: what does it actually feel like to come home here?

The two secondary bedrooms were styled as tonal counterpoints to one another, each with its own distinct character but both showing that every room in the residence was given equal care. One feels moodier and more dramatic, with a dark accent wall and bright daylight creating strong contrast. The other is light, warm, and softly layered. Our team dressed the beds and styled the furniture to feel personal and considered in both rooms.

Marketing value: Secondary bedrooms with genuine design identities of their own signal to buyers that the entire residence was conceived with the same level of intention throughout — and that is a powerful thing to communicate.

The study room sits just off the private elevator foyer at Penthouse B, accessible through its own dedicated entrance separate from the main residence. It's a genuinely rare feature: a self-contained office space a resident can use without ever disturbing the home behind it. The room follows the building's curved facade, with a wraparound window wall framing an unobstructed view of the Brooklyn Bridge, the East River, and Lower Manhattan. We kept the styling intentionally light: a few carefully chosen props placed to suggest the room in use rather than dressed for a photograph.

Marketing value: This image sells something most penthouses don't have: separation. The ability to work or take a meeting in a private space that exists completely apart from your home is a genuine differentiator at this level, and the view it comes with makes it something no conventional office could ever replicate.

The three bedrooms at Penthouse B each have their own design identity, but all share the same level of finish and intention. The first secondary bedroom faces west over Brooklyn Heights, styled with a sculptural black vanity, organic-form mirror, and warm layered bedding. The second was approached as a children's room without compromising the design language of the penthouse: playful artwork, soft sage and blush bedding, wall-mounted bookshelves, and harbor views through floor-to-ceiling windows. The primary bedroom is anchored by a full floor-to-ceiling upholstered wall panel in warm taupe running the entire width of the room, with the Manhattan Bridge visible just outside the windows. We timed that shoot for late-day light, which gave the space a warmth and depth that defined the final image.

Marketing value: These images make a single, powerful case: at Penthouse B, every bedroom was designed with the same level of care as the primary. That is not common at any price point, and it is exactly the kind of detail that matters to a buyer considering a home at this level.

Unit 16E has a strong, cohesive design personality that sets it apart from the other residences. The sage green running throughout the apartment creates a warm, residential feel from the moment you walk in. Our team styled the living room, dining room, and kitchen with the same restrained intentionality, using small details like fresh flowers and plants to add warmth and continuity without competing with the apartment’s bold design identity.

Marketing value: Some residences have a point of view that is impossible to ignore — and Unit 16E is one of them. These three images together make a compelling case for a buyer who wants something genuinely different: a home conceived as a complete interior vision from the kitchen to the living room to the dining room.

Phase 4: Penthouse B Campaign

By late 2024, the project moved into a more focused premium marketing phase centered on Penthouse B. Alyshia provided a clear floor plan and structured shot list covering the living room, dining room, terrace, kitchen, primary bedroom and bath, secondary bedrooms, den, secondary bath, foyer, study, and wet bar. This became one of the most clearly defined, campaign-level assignments of the entire engagement, with specific image priorities for each room.

The den is a proper sitting room. We shot two frames to capture both the scale of the room and the intimacy of being inside it, timing the shoot for the afternoon light that fills the space through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The bar was shot as a straight-on detail, letting the warm ribbed oak millwork, marble-clad niche, open shelving, and integrated wine refrigerator speak for themselves, styled simply to feel genuinely ready to use.

Marketing value: A dedicated den with its own bar is the kind of feature that doesn't appear in a spec sheet but closes a sale. These images show a penthouse that has thought carefully about how its residents actually live and entertain, and at this level of finish, that distinction matters.

Across this set, compositional decisions were made to connect the living, dining, and kitchen zones within single frames wherever possible. In the living room, the camera position was chosen to place the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan skyline directly behind the seating arrangement, with the lean mirrors on the right wall used to extend the depth of the space. The dining frame was positioned to pull the kitchen's fluted oak cabinetry into the background while keeping the pendant and the city view in alignment. Styling across all four images included fresh green botanical branches in a white ceramic vessel on the dining table, a bowl of red apples and lemons with a glass pitcher on the kitchen island, and a small floral arrangement on the kitchen countertop. In the living area, throw pillows in burnt orange and rust were layered on the bouclé sectional to introduce warmth against the neutral shell.

Marketing value: Intentional prop and floral styling combined with view-aligned compositions produce imagery that performs across luxury listings, developer marketing materials, and interior design press.

Both terrace shots were timed around sunset to maximize the sky — the first at dusk with Lower Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, and New York Harbor framed directly behind the outdoor dining table, the second at full sunset with a vivid pink and violet sky stretching over Midtown and the Manhattan Bridge. Camera positions were chosen to use the terrace furniture as foreground anchors: the round white stone dining table with a bowl of green moss balls in the first frame, the full-width tufted outdoor sofa running along the glass facade in the second. Styling was kept minimal — a gold tray with glass tea service, a white sculptural object on the coffee table — to keep attention on the skyline.

Marketing value: Sunset terrace photography with the Brooklyn Bridge, New York Harbor, and Manhattan skyline in frame is the single most impactful image type in Brooklyn luxury real estate marketing, supporting listing presentations, developer collateral, and press placement.

Project Impact & Press Coverage

The photography from all four phases of the Olympia DUMBO project has appeared in and supported coverage across some of the most respected architectural and real estate publications in the world.

Editorial Coverage

• Architectural Digest ran an exclusive tour of Olympia that covered both the building’s architecture and the $19.5 million listing for Penthouse B. It became one of the publication’s most-read luxury real estate features.

• Dezeen published a full architectural profile of the completed tower in February 2024, bringing international attention to Hill West Architects’ distinctive sail-shaped design.

• The PLAN magazine in Italy highlighted Olympia as a standout example of contemporary residential architecture on the global stage.

• Robb Report and CNBC gave Penthouse B extensive coverage in connection with Spike Lee’s 2025 A24 film Highest 2 Lowest, where the penthouse served as Denzel Washington’s on-screen home. The association created a significant cultural moment that raised the building’s profile worldwide.

• Curbed, The Real Deal, City Realty, Cottages & Gardens, and The New York Post, Mansion Global have all featured the building across multiple rounds of coverage.

Awards

• American Architecture Award 2024 – Chicago Athenaeum (Multifamily Residential)

• 2024 Concrete Industry Board Mid-Rise Merit Award with Special Recognition

• 6sqft Building of the Year 2022

• Finalist, World Architecture Festival 2023

• Shortlisted, The PLAN Award 2024

• Shortlisted, SFE Facade’s 2024 Design & Engineering Award

• Finalist, Interior Design Magazine’s NYCxDESIGN Award 2023

Sales Records

• The photography played a meaningful role in supporting Olympia’s sales program and contributed to several record-breaking transactions:

• Penthouse B sold on February 24, 2026, for $16.25 million. The sale set the all-time record for the highest price per square foot for a Brooklyn sponsor condo at $3,297 per sq ft and ranked as the third most expensive condo transaction in Brooklyn history by total value.

• Penthouse A sold in mid-May 2024 for $17.5 million.

• A March 2025 resale set the record for the most expensive Brooklyn condo resale at $3,300 per sq ft.

• Unit 28B, a three-bedroom on the 28th floor, signed in October 2025 for $6.2 million and topped Brooklyn’s weekly luxury contract chart.

• By late 2025, more than two-thirds of the building’s 76 units had sold since sales launched in 2021. Throughout that period, Olympia consistently ranked at the top of Brooklyn’s luxury weekly contract reports.

Reflection

The Olympia DUMBO project represents the kind of engagement that defines a body of work — a convergence of exceptional architecture, rigorous interior design, thoughtful styling, and the kind of creative trust between photographer and client that allows the best images to emerge. Working alongside Deitch + Pham team was central to that outcome. Their ability to translate a design vision into tangible, photographable moments — and to adjust in real time to the demands of natural light, architectural geometry, and compositional opportunity — made the collaboration genuinely generative.

The result is a portfolio of images that has supported one of the most commercially successful and critically recognized luxury residential developments in Brooklyn's history. Olympia DUMBO has not only redefined the skyline; it has redefined what is possible in Brooklyn real estate. The photography was built to carry that ambition — and by every measure, it did.