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.
Jean Serpieri 1961 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Jean Serpieri, 1961 Madame Jean Serpieri sits in the ballroom of the Tour La Reine near Athens, wearing a gown that belonged to the wife of Otto, the first king of modern Greece, De...
Archival Pigment
Cocteau Collector, Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
August 1982: Art collector Sylvia Coca sits in front of one of Jean Cocteau's murals in Marbella. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Auth...
Lambda
Poolside Pairs, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Midcentury Modern 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...
Lambda
'La Concha Beach Club' Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'La Concha Beach Club' Bathers at La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975. This is a simply stunning Slim. The palm fringed green...
Archival Pigment
Dining Al Fresco On Capri, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Carlton Hotel Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Carlton Hotel' by Slim Aarons The entrance to the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France, 1958. A couple dressed elegantly in all white tennis outfits with rackets in hand, wander past the...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Barbados - Sarah Marson Williams
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Barbados - Sarah Marson Williams Sarah Marson Williams enjoys a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point, Barbados, April 1976....
Color, Archival Pigment
Courchevel, French Alps, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a ski resort in Courchevel in the French Alps, circa 1970. This is an estate stamped and hand num...
Lambda
Dining In Gstaad, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a ski lodge at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961. This is an estate stam...
Lambda
Penthouse Pool 1961 Slim Aarons Premium Collection Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Penthouse Pool 1961 Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961. 30 x 30” / 76 x 76 cm paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim ...
Archival Pigment
Bohemia's Barracks, New York City, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features artistic denizens gathered in the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel on W. 23rd Street, Manhattan,...
Lambda
Penthouse Pool 1961 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Penthouse Pool Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961. 40 x 40” / 101 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aa...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Speedboat Landing' 1973 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Speedboat Landing' August 1973:A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Italy. 24 x 20" inc...
Archival Pigment
Party At Romanoff's, Beverly Hills, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograp
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a party at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Lambda
$1,800
Holidaymakers in Bermuda, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers relaxing on a beach in Bermuda. This is an estate stamped and hand numbere...
Lambda
$5,400
Eye Of The Beholder, 1974 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A man contemplates the sunbathers by a swimming pool at the Hotel Punta Tragara on the island of Capri, Italy, August 1974. Slim Aarons Eye Of The Beholder 1974 (printed later) C pr...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'La Concha Beach Club' 1975 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'La Concha Beach Club' Bathers at La Concha Beach Club, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1975. 40 x 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size Estate St...
Archival Pigment
Lounging In Gstaad, Switzerland, 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 holidaymakers in sun loungers on the slopes at at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961. This is an est...
Lambda
Sea Drive Slim Aarons Limited Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sea Drive 1967 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Film producer Kevin McClory takes his wife Bobo Sigrist and their family for a drive in an ‘Amphicar’ across the harbour at Nassau....
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition 'Penthouse Pool' Supergiant print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Penthouse Pool' Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool, Athens, July 1961. 60 x 60 inches / 152 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo...
Archival Pigment
Lake Tahoe Couple (1959) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Lake Tahoe Couple (1959) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) A couple at a swimming pool near Lake Tahoe, California, 1959. The line on the bottom of the pool marks t...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Sea Dive 'Amphicar' Nassau Harbour c1974 Framed Color Double Plate
By Slim Aarons
Located in Bristol, CT
Art Sz: 13"H x 20"W Frame Sz: 14 1/4"H x 21 1/4"W In custom gilt bamboo frame Original color double page from Slim Aarons' iconic book "A Wonderful Time" published 1974 Kevin McC...
Color
'George Hamilton' 1968 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'George Hamilton' American actor George Hamilton relaxes on a deckchair in Capri, 1968. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo b...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Dining Al Fresco On Capri'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umberto Terrelli dining al fresco on a terrace overlooking the wat...
C Print
Porto Ercole, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Boats in the harbour of Porto Ercole (Port'Ercole), Tuscany, August 1967. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and ...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Estate Print - The Carlton Hotel 1955 - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
The Carlton Hotel A Cadillac with Florida plates parked outside the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France, circa 1955. paper size 40 x 40" inches / 101 x 101 cm Estate Stamped Collecti...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Penthouse Pool (1961) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Penthouse Pool (1961) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Young women by the Canellopoulos penthouse pool. Athens, July 1961. Additional Information: Unframed Paper ...
Color, Archival Pigment
On The Slopes Of Sugarbush, Vermont, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of people relaxing at the chalet of stockbroker A Albert Sack Jr, at the Sugarbus...
Lambda
$1,800
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...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Official 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 (Photo by Slim Aarons). 40 x 40" inches / 101 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition...
Archival Pigment
$1,800
Vermont Winter, Vermont, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vermont Winter, Vermont, Estate Edition, Winter Landscape Photograph This 1960s winter landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features students from Sto...
Lambda
Culinary Heights, France, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Courchevel restaurant chefs Jean Jacob (left) of 'Le Bateau Ivre', Michel Rochedy (centre) ...
Lambda
$4,882
'La Concha Clientele' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'La Concha Clientele' The swimming pool of a villa in Monte Carlo, Monaco, August 1970. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo b...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Lounging in Gstaad
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Lounging in Gstaad Holidaymakers in sun loungers on the slopes at at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1961. Gorgeous print measuring 48 x 72" inches / c...
Archival Pigment
Island Paradise, Corsica, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features topless swimmers on a rocky promontory of the Mediterranean island of Cavallo, Corsica. This is an est...
Lambda
Eden-Roc Pool, France, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests round the swimming pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, This is an estate st...
Lambda
'CZ's Dogs' 1955 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'CZ's Dogs' Premium Rates Apply. circa 1955: Mrs F C Winston Guest (1920 - 2003) (aka Cee Zee Guest) with her dogs in front of the Grecian temple pool on her ocean-front estate, Vil...
Color, Archival Pigment
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...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Sea Drive' Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Sea Drive' 1967 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition 1967. Film producer Kevin McClory takes his wife Bobo Sigrist and their family for a drive in an ‘Amphicar’ across the harbour at ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Dining al Fresco in Capri'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umberto Terrelli dining al fresco on a terrace overlooking the wat...
C Print
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Hotel Il San Pietro
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Hotel IL San Pietro Guests at the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy, August 1979. Gorgeous print measuring 60 x 40" inches / ca 152.4 x 101.6 cm’s paper size. Estate Stampe...
Color, Archival Pigment
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
$2,400
Beach Near Portinatx, Ibiza, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1980s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers at a beach near Portinatx, Ibiza, Spain. This is an estate stamped and han...
Lambda
Palermo (formerly Taormina 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...
Lambda
Lyford Cay Fire Service, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features two people horseback riding at the Rawlins Plantation inn, Saint Kitts and Nevis, West Indi...
Lambda
Hotel Punta Tragara Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Hotel Punta Tragara The Hotel Punta Tragara on Capri, Italy, August 1974. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to...
Color, Archival Pigment
'Missouri Hunt' 1955 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Missouri Hunt' A hunting party on horseback in St Louis, Missouri, circa 1955. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim A...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Pebble Beach Hunt 1976
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Pebble Beach Hunt Riders gather in the courtyard of Richard Collins’ House for the stirrup cup libation, before the start of the Pebble Beach Hunt of English and American foxhounds,...
Archival Pigment
Princess Colonna, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photogra
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Princess Colonna, posing wearing a Panama-style hat with a blue, white and green blouse, on the island...
Lambda
Acapulco Lunch
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A long afternoon lunch at Acapulco. Among the guest are (from left to right) film star Douglas Fairbanks Junior (1909 - 2000), couturiers Oscar de la Renta, and standing behind him E...
C Print
'Monaco Grand Prix' 1977 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Monaco Grand Prix' Left to right: princesses Stephanie, Caroline and Grace (1929 - 1982) of Monaco applaud as Prince Rainier III (1923 - 2005) pre...
Archival Pigment
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 waterskiier, in the sea off the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riv...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Pool At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Pool At Las Brisas Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. 40 x 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 1...
Archival Pigment
'Poolside Pairs' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Poolside Pairs' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print Former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace) and Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph Lins...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Cannes Watersports 1958 - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Cannes Watersports Holidaymakers waterskiing in front of the Carlton Hotel, Cannes, 1958. Paper size 20 x 30" inches / 51 x 76 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Phot...
Archival Pigment
$2,750
'Catch Up by the Pool' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Catch Up by the Pool' 1970 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print Former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph L...
C Print, Color
Beach at St. Tropez - Topless Sunbathing South of France French Riviera Beaches
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Beach at St. Tropez - Topless Sunbathing South of France French Riviera Beaches by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. ...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
$3,900
Party In Bermuda, Estate Edition (1970 on the Yacht Ondine in yellow and red)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons's iconic photograph of 70's vintage seagoing glamour, captured onboard the wood-trimmed deck of the yacht 'Ondine' in Bermuda, June 1970. Figures in the foreground are offset by cheery yellow and red. A United States yacht ensign flag flies the foreground, alongside the flag of Scania, the flag of the Swedish-speaking Finns (an unofficial red flag with a yellow cross used in the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland to represent the Finland-Swedes., which may be flown in addition to the Finnish blue and white flag). Guests wear coral, navy, pastels, and whites, including classic vintage Pucci. The ship's name and home marina of New York are stenciled in gold on the white hull. Slim Aarons Party in Bermuda...
Lambda
$5,720
Slim Aarons 'Catherine Wilke' Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Catherine Wilke' 1980 Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers at the Hotel Punta Tragara on the island of Capri, Italy, 1980. Paper size 30 x 40 inches / 76 x 102 cm Estat...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons - Lord Of All I Survey 1957 - Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Lord Of All I Survey 1957 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print The youngest peer in England, seven year old Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hes...
C Print