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.
Sugarbush Skiing, Vermont, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features tourists skiing at Sugarbush, a mountain resort in Vermont, April 1960. This is an estate stamped and h...
Lambda
Snowmass Village, Colorado, 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 women in colourful hats at an apres ski party in Snowmass Village, in Pitkin County, Colorado, in M...
Lambda
$3,000
Sunbathing In Venice, Italy, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a woman sunbatheing, wearing a novelty straw sun hat with built-in sunglasses, Venice. Th...
Lambda
The Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, 1972
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A helicopter carrying tourists hovers over the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, Florida, April 1972. Slim Aarons Aerial Miami Beach 1972 C print (Printed later) Estate signature...
C Print
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
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Megachess - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Megachess A giant game of chess in Saint Lucia, in the Lesser Antilles, February 1993. Paper size 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 101 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo b...
Archival Pigment
Andros Island, Bahamas, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a family enjoying a quiet beach on Andros Island. This is an estate stamped and hand num...
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. 48 x 48" / 122 x 122 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aarons Printe...
Archival Pigment
$5,400
NEW Slim Aarons 'Lilly Pulitzer And Her Designs' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Women of Palm Beach wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer for a fashion shoot at 400 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, Florida, 1964. Pulitzer is seen back row, third from left, Wendy Vande...
C Print
Daniel Gainey, Arizona, 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 winemaker Daniel Gainey and his wife out riding at their ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is an...
Lambda
Fontainebleau Car Park Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Fontainebleau Car Park The car park at the Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami, circa 1955. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Editio...
Color, Archival Pigment
Catch Up by the Pool, California, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features former fashion model Helen Dzo Dzo Kaptur (in white lace), Nelda Linsk (in yellow), wife of art deale...
Lambda
Lech Ice Bar, Austria, 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 enjoy a drink by the Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in Lech, Austria. This is an estate stampe...
Lambda
Tennis In The Bahamas 1957 Slim Aarons Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Tennis In The Bahamas 1957 Slim Aarons Estate Print Two women stand talking to a man on the edge of a tennis court in the Bahamas, circa 1957. Paper siz...
Archival Pigment
Vane's Villa, Majorca 1987, Slim Aarons Estate Limited Edition Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests at Vane Ivanovic's villa in Cap de Formentor, Majorca, Spain, 1987. Slim Aarons Vane's Villa 1987 C print (Printed later) Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition o...
C Print
$3,000
Skiing In Vail, USA, 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 stand in line waiting for the ski lift in Vail, Colorado, USA. This is an estate...
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Tiziana
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Tiziana, 1984 C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity A topless Tiziana Audino enjoys a shower at the Hotel San Pietro in P...
C Print
$5,700
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Skiers At Verbier - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers At Verbier Skiers relax in deckchairs on the slopes at Verbier in Switzerland. 48x48" inches / 122 x 122 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo ...
Archival Pigment
Vail Skiers, 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 skiers in Vail, Colorado. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certifica...
Lambda
$5,400
'Fan Mail' Slim Aarons Premium Collection Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Fan Mail' 1955 Marilyn Monroe (1926 – 1962), wearing a red negligee trimmed with black lace, sorts out her fan mail shortly after her film ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ had been released. ...
Archival Pigment
Hotel Excelsior, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The beach front of the luxurious Excelsior Hotel on the Venice Lido, 1957. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim Aarons ...
Lambda
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...
Lambda
Eden-Roc Hotel du Cap 1976 Slim Aarons Premium Collection Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc 1976 Guests by the pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August 1976. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size. Photo by Slim Aarons Archival ...
Color, Archival Pigment
All Aboard, Monaco, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a group of Friends boarding a riva boat in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This is an estate stamped...
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Skiing Waiters (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Caption: Three skiing waiters on a ski slope, with the man in the foreground carrying a bird on a tray, the second man carring a wine in an ice bucket and the third carrying a menu, ...
Lambda
Catherine Wilke, Capri, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Catherine Wilke joining the topless sunbathers - along with Elisabetta Catalano, Charlotte Ticke...
Lambda
Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc 1976 Slim Aarons Premium Collection Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc 1976 Guests by the pool at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, Antibes, France, August 1976. 40 x 30" inches / 101 x 76 cm paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Editi...
Color, Archival Pigment
$3,000
Poolside Fashions, California, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a poolside party at a desert house, designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. Kaufmann, in Palm Sp...
Lambda
$3,000
Poolside Interruption, Palm Springs Poolside Series, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Lita Baron talking with a guest at a poolside party at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Pal...
Lambda
$3,600
Zermatt Skiing, 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 ...
Lambda
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...
Lambda
Kings Of Hollywood Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Kings Of Hollywood Clark Gable (1901 – 1960), Van Heflin (1910 – 1971), Gary Cooper (1901 – 1961) and James Stewart (1908 – 1997) enjoying a joke at a New Year’s party held at Roma...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Pool Party on the Steps, Palm Springs Poolside Series, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1970s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests by the pool at Nelda Linsk's desert house in Palm Springs, California, January 19...
Lambda
Dolores Del Rio by the Pool, Acapulco, Estate Edition, Poolside Portrait
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mexican film star Dolores Del Rio (1905 - 1983, centre) lounges by the pool with Micki Salle, a friend and a poodle, Acapulco, 1952. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 ...
Lambda
Zermatt Skiing, Slim Aarons 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 ...
Lambda
Snowmass Village, Colorado, 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 women in colourful hats at an apres ski party in Snowmass Village, in Pitkin County, Colorado, in M...
Lambda
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 ...
Lambda
$4,200
Zermatt Skiing, 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 ...
Lambda
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...
Lambda
Skiers At 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 skiers at Gstaad, Switzerland, March 1969. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered ...
Lambda
Lech Ice Bar, Austria, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960 photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features the Ice Bar at the Hotel Krone in Lech, Austria, 1960. The Hotel Pfefferkorn and Hotel Tannbergerhof are ...
Lambda
'Acapulco Villa' 1968 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Acapulco Villa' Las Brisas, the home of Eustaquio Escandon in Acapulco, January 1968. From 'A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons' Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stam...
Archival Pigment
Prince Filippo Corsini, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Prince Filippo Corsini sits in the gardens of the Palazzo Corsini sul Prato in Florence, 1983. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped...
Lambda
Gloria Schiff and Consuelo Crespi, Sardinia, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Pilar Crespi and her sister, Italian countess Consuelo Crespi (1928-2010), in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia...
Lambda
Cortina D'Ampezzo, Ski Lift, 1960 Slim Aarons Estate Limited Edition Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A skier using the ski lifts at Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, 1962. Cortina D'Ampezzo 1962 C print (Printed later) Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certifi...
C Print
Skating Waiter, Switzerland, 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 a skating cocktail waiter at the Palace Hotel in St Moritz. This is an estate stamped and hand num...
Lambda
$3,900
Courchevel, France, 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 skiing holiday in Courchevel, France. This is an estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 15...
Lambda
Slim Aarons - Nice Spot For Lunch - Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'A Nice Spot For Lunch' A group enjoy a picnic at a rocky coastline in Bermuda, 1957. Gorgeous print measuring a Large 40 x 40" inches / ca 1...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Neo-Classical Pool 1985
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Neo-Classical Pool Mrs T. Dennie Boardman and her children Samuel Jay and Sarah climbing the steps from the pool at the home of Boardman’s parents in Palm Beach, Florida, 1985. Pap...
Archival Pigment
Capucine Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Capucine 1957: French actress Capucine, (Germaine Lefebvre) (1933 - 1990) fanning herself at a New Year's Eve party held at Romanoffs in Beverly Hills. 20x24" paper size Estate S...
Silver Gelatin, Black and White
Pussyfooting, Jamaica, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features actress Dee Hartford, wife of film producer Howard Hawks, sipping a Pussyfoot - a mixture ...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Mrs. A. Watson Armour III, Illinois, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs. A. Watson Armour III walking with her poodles on her Lake Forest Estate, Illinois, USA. T...
Lambda
$4,900
Marsha Gayle 1985 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Marsha Gayle 1985 Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print Laura Hawk, assistant to the photographer, relaxes by the pool at El Rincon, the von ...
C Print
Poolside In Sotogrande Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Poolside In Sotogrande Bathers round a pool in Sotogrande, Spain, August 1975. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aa...
Color, Archival Pigment
Ocean Club 1963 - Slim Aarons Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Ocean Club 1963 A cross-shaped ornamental pond and fountain at The Ocean Club on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, 1963. Huntington Hartford, paid $...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, 'The High Life in St Tropez'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons The High Life 1977. (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity August 1977: Actor George Hamilton (in blue) ta...
C Print
Catherine Wilke, Capri, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1980 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Catherine Wilke joining the topless sunbathers - along with Elisabetta Catalano, Charlotte Ticke...
Lambda
Skiing In Stowe, Vermont, 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 two women in knitwear, leaning on ski sticks, while standing in the Stowe Mountain ski r...
Lambda
$4,200
Conca dei Marini, Italy, Estate Edition, Landscape 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 Ita...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Official Limited Estate Edition - Pool By The Sea Antibes
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Pool By The Sea by Slim Aarons 1969 Guests and white umbrellas / parasols around the swimming pool at the infamously glamorous Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, ...
Color, Archival Pigment