American photographer Slim Aarons captured the 20th century’s international jet set — U.S. socialites, European royalty, Hollywood stars — at play in sun-kissed locales like Monaco, Saint-Tropez and Palm Beach, as well as other luxurious settings around the globe.
Committed to eschewing makeup and artificial lighting, Aarons created images that are at once candid and polished, combining the relaxed posture of his subjects, who trusted him to document their lives, with the visual sharpness of a seasoned art director. Having gotten his start taking pictures for the U.S. military magazine Yank during World War II, he contributed over the course of his career to Life, Town and Country and Holiday magazines and published several books.
Aarons was born in Manhattan in 1916. He joined the army at 18, shooting military maneuvers at West Point before serving as a combat photographer, for which he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war, he moved to California and began snapping socialites and movie stars.
In the 1950s, Aarons opened a bureau for Life magazine in Rome, where he took pictures capturing the postwar scene. He was always able to win the trust of his elite subjects, who saw him as close to a peer, rather than a paparazzo.
In a 2002 interview with The Independent, Aarons remarked, ''I knew everyone. They would invite me to one of their parties because they knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was one of them.'' This access allowed him to document the rich and famous with their guard down, reading newspapers and magazines, talking on the phone, relaxing by the pool, and chatting with friends. The 1957 photograph The Kings of Hollywood, for example, which won him wide acclaim, shows Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and Jimmy Stewart laughing together as they celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Many of Aarons’s best-known images involve games and sports. In the 1972 Poolside Backgammon, two young women play the board game of the title against the backdrop of a majestic Acapulco estate. In 1958’s Cannes Watersports, a couple attempts to glide across the Golfe de la Napoule on Jet Skis, one expertly and one hanging on for dear life. And in Penthouse Pool, shot in Athens in 1961, a young woman wearing a yellow bathing cap smiles coyly at the camera, surrounded by friends and brightly colored seat cushions, with the Acropolis faintly visible in the background.
Among Aarons’s books are 1974’s A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life, and its 2003 sequel, Once Upon a Time. His final book, A Place in the Sun, was published in 2005, one year before his death.
Find a collection of vintage Slim Aarons photography on 1stDibs.
Lake Tahoe Trip 1959 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Lake Tahoe Trip 1959 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Young women canoeing on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, 1959. 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection E...
Archival Pigment
Exuma Holiday 1964 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Exuma Holiday 1964 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A yachting holiday on Exuma in the Bahamas, April 1964. 24 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition ...
Archival Pigment
Swimming In Spain 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Swimming In Spain 1970 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Swimming and snorkelling in the bay at the Hostal De La Gavina, in S’agaro, Costa Brava, Spain, July 1970. 30 x 20" inches / 61...
Archival Pigment
Sunbathing In Capri, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1970s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features sunbathers by a swimming pool at the Hotel Punta Tragara on the island of Capri, Italy, Au...
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Skaal House In Stowe 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skaal House In Stowe 1962 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped The glass-fronted triangular Skaal House, lit up at night, in the Stowe Mountain ski resort in Stowe, Vermont, 1962. A pair of...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
Slim Aarons 'Monte Carlo' 1975 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Monte Carlo' Friends board a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco, 1975. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Adriatic Riviera
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Adriatic Riviera Men and women - wearing red, white and blue striped tops - relaxing on a small boat, with a red and white mast, and small flags of Germany, USA, Great Britain and I...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, 'Tiziana' Midcentury Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A topless Tiziana Audino enjoys a shower at the Hotel San Pietro in Positano, 1984. Slim Aarons Tiziana 1984. (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 wi...
C Print
Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers walking up a mountain in Cortina D'Ampezzo, a ski resort in northern Italy. This is an est...
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Coming Ashore - Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Coming Ashore A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy. Augu...
Archival Pigment
$2,400
On The Slopes Of Sugarbush, New England, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two skiers inspecting their skis on the slopes of the Sugarbush Mountain ski resort in Wa...
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![Salvador Dali's Party, Estate Edition Photograph [Surrealist Dinner, Green+Red]](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/slim-aarons-1916-2006-american-photography-salvador-dalis-party-estate-edition-photograph-surrealist-dinner-greenred-for-sale/a_148/a_83043121623787402664/UndercurrentAARONSDalisParty_l.jpeg?width=240)
![Salvador Dali's Party, Estate Edition Photograph [Surrealist Dinner, Green+Red]](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/slim-aarons-1916-2006-american-photography-salvador-dalis-party-estate-edition-photograph-surrealist-dinner-greenred-for-sale-picture-2/a_148/a_83043121623787402988/1_Undercurrent_Aarons_Stamp_master.jpg?width=240)
$3,600
Salvador Dali's Party, Estate Edition Photograph [Surrealist Dinner, Green+Red]
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1959: Surrealist painter Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989) with a red-haired woman in a green dress at a vintage ball in New York. The artist is captured with his characteristic walking st...
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$4,200
Slim Aarons, Poolside in Arizona (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Poolside in Arizona 1973. (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Guests by the pool at the home of Wayne B...
C Print
Palermo Pool, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This rich, vibrant Slim Aarons Estate Edition photograph depicts a swimming pool at the glamorous Villa Igiea, in the Sicilian cultural, economic and tourism capital of Palermo, on t...
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Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Palm Beach Idyll
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Palm Beach Idyll A couple sunbathe by the sea at Palm Beach Florida 1955 USA Gorgeous print measuring 40 x 40" inches / ca 101 x 101 cm’s paper size. Estate Stamped Collection ...
Archival Pigment
Jhelum River, India, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features A luxury boat trip on the Jhelum River near Srinagar, in Jammu and Kashmir, India, 1961. The boat is ...
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Conca dei Marini 1984 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Conca dei Marini A bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984. 40x30” / 76x101 cm - paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aa...
Archival Pigment
Crepes in Cortina d'Ampezzo
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Waiters making crepes suzettes at a restaurant in Cortina d'Ampezzo, February 1962. Slim Aarons Crepes in Cortina d'Ampezzo 1962 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered...
C Print
San Diego Gulls (1956) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
San Diego Gulls (1956) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL (Photo By Slim Aarons) Seagulls over a beach in San Diego, California, October 1956. Additional Information: Unframed...
Color, Archival Pigment
Porto Ercole, 1973
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A jetty juts out from the rocky shoreline at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1973. Slim Aarons Porto Erocole, 1973 C print Estate stamped and numbered edit...
C Print
Winter Wear, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Manuela Boraomanero (left) and Emanuela Beghelli holiday in the Italian ski resort of Cortina d'Amp...
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Skiers Relaxing at Cortina d'Ampezzo, 1982
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Skiers relax in deckchairs by the ski slopes at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, 1982. Cortina d'Ampezzo 1982 C print (Printed later) Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of...
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Winter Wear, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Manuela Boraomanero (left) and Emanuela Beghelli holiday in the Italian ski resort of Cortina d'Amp...
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Slim Aarons 'Caleta Beach, Acapulco' 1968 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Caleta Beach, Acapulco' A couple walk on Caleta Beach holding hands, Acapulco, Mexico, 1968. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests by the pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August 1976. Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc 1976 C-Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with cert...
C Print
$2,400
Beverly Hills Party, Los Angeles, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1954 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American actors Lauren Bacall and Judy Garland attending a house party in Beverly Hills. This i...
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Slim Aarons, Capri Bay
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Faraglioni Rocks on the Italian island of Capri, 1958. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aarons (1916-2006) ...
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Slim Aarons 'Pantz Pool' Unframed Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Pantz Pool by Slim Aarons Laura Hawk, assistant to the photographer, relaxes by the pool at El Rincon, the von Pantz' Marbella home, September 1985. (Photo by Slim Aarons) Limited...
Archival Pigment
Skiing In Vail, Colorado, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of skiers standing next to snow covered trees in Vail, Colorado, USA. This is an estate sta...
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Coming Ashore - Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Coming Ashore A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy. Augu...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Palm Beach Idyll
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Palm Beach Idyl A couple sunbathe by the sea at Palm Beach Florida 1955 USA (Photo by Slim Aarons). Gorgeous print measuring 40 x 40" inches / ca 101 x 101 cm’s paper size. Est...
Archival Pigment
$2,500
'Palm Springs Riders' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Palm Springs Riders' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print A group of riders among Washingtonia palms in Andreas Canyon, Palm Springs, southern...
Color
Californian Party, San Francisco, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1990s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Belgian born actress Audrey Hepburn (1929 - 1993) socialising at a party in San Francisco. This is an estate stamp...
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Zephyria I, Estate Edition. Monte Carlo French Riviera Speedboat Seascape
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Monte Carlo, 1970: This classic landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a vintage wooden and red painted speedboat carrying holidaygoers in the ...
Lambda
$5,700
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Brunch At Brennans - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Brunch At Brennans Sunday brunch at Brennan’s restaurant, New Orleans. 40 x 40" inches / 101 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons...
Archival Pigment
Conca dei Marini, Italy, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a busy bay in Conca dei Marini, on the Amalfi coast in Italy, August 1984. This is an est...
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Donald Leas 1968 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Donald Leas April 1968: Mr and Mrs Donald Leas with their Rolls Royce and two pet dogs outside The Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida. 60x60” / 152 x 152 cm - paper size Es...
Archival Pigment
Inga Lindgren And Poodles, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Swedish model Inga Lindgren, wife of Argentinian finance minister Ceferino Alonso Irigoyen,...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Porto Ercole 1973 - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Porto Ercole A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy, August 1973. Paper size 60 x 40"...
Archival Pigment
Snow Round The Pool, Colorado, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the apres-ski in Zermatt, Switzerland. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 w...
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Nice Pool (1955) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Nice Pool (1955) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs. F.C. Winston Guest, 1920 – 2003) and her son Alexander Michael Douglas Dudley Gues...
Color, Archival Pigment
Skiers At Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers at Gstaad, Switzerland. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with cer...
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Sea Drive, Nassau, Estate Edition Midcentury Modern Photograph Seascape
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features film producer Kevin McClory taking his wife Bobo Sigrist and their family for a drive in an 'Amphica...
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Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C. Winston Guest, 1920 - 2003) and her son Alexander Michael Dougl...
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Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Skiing In Vail
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers pass by a snow covered tree in Vail, Colorado, USA, 1964. Gorgeous print measuring 60 x 40" inches / ca 152 x 101 cm’s paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150...
Archival Pigment
Mittersill Castle, Austria, Estate Edition, Midcentury Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a glider resting on the ground by Mittersill Castle, Austria. This is an estate stamped ...
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Eagle Club, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers dining at the Eagle Club, Gstaad, Switzerland. This is an estate stamped and hand nu...
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Slim Aarons Estate Print - Motorcycling Lord
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Motorcycling Lord Lord Hesketh, Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry, by the lake in the grounds of his family estate Easton Neston House, Northamptonshire with...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Harbour Isle Beach
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Holidaymakers on the beach at Harbour Isle in the Bahamas, March 1973. Gorgeous print measuring 60 x 40" inches / ca 152.4 x 101.6 cm’s paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Edi...
Archival Pigment
'Catherine Wilke' Capri (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Catherine Wilke' Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers on the island of Capri, 1980. Gorgeous print measuring a large 30 x 20 inches / ca 76 x 51 cm's. Estate Stamped C...
Archival Pigment
Poolside Pairs, Palm Springs, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace) and Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art deale...
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Skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the apres-ski in Zermatt, Switzerland. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 ...
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Eden Hartford, Hollywood, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features actress Eden Hartford, sister to Dee, in the Hollywood home she shared with her husband, co...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Zermatt Skiing, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers in Zermatt, in March 1968. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with ...
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Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Dinner Jazz
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dinner Jazz American Jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong enjoys a plate of spaghetti in Rome. Paper size 48 x 48" inches / 121 x 121 cm Estate ...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Leisure In Antibes
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Leisure In Antibes 1969 A woman sunbathing in a motorboat as it tows a waterskier, in the sea off the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Rivi...
Archival Pigment
Snorkelling In The Shallows, Malta, Estate Edition, Aerial Waterscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s aerial landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta. This is an estate stampe...
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Slim Aarons 'Guests At Villa Nirvana' 1978 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Guests At Villa Nirvana' Guests at the Villa Nirvana, owned by Oscar Obregon, in Las Brisas, Acapulco, Mexico, 1978. 40 x 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped C...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'The High Life' : Mid-century Modern Photography : Celebrity
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Actor George Hamilton (in blue) takes off in a speedboat with friends Ruth Luthi, Sabine Korte and Mike Belami, during a stay in St Tropez. September 1968. The High Life 1968 C prin...
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Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Portofino - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Portofino 1985, The most exclusive fishing village in Italy, Portofino, on Italy’s Ligurian coast. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition...
Archival Pigment