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.
Slim Aarons 'Cortina d'Ampezzo' 1988 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Cortina d'Ampezzo' 1988 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print Snowboarding in Cortina d'Ampezzo, March 1988. 40 x 60" inches / 102 x 152 cm paper size Estate Stamped Colle...
Archival Pigment
The Bahamas
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A swimming pool, seen through the fronds of a palm tree, with two people swimming and a group of people sitting at tables at the poolside in the Bahamas, May 1967. Beyond the pool is...
Lambda
$2,400
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 ...
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Slim Aarons, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, Milan (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, 1960 Chromogenic Lambda Print Estate edition of 150 View looking down the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, 1960. Opened in 1890, the covere...
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'Pool At Las Brisas' SLIM AARONS ESTATE Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Pool At Las Brisas' 1972 Giant Estate Stamped Limited Edition Print by Slim Aarons 'Pool At Las Brisas' by Slim Aarons Guests in the pool at the Las Brisas Hotel, Acapulco, Mexico, February 1972. Two beautiful young women in bikinis...
C Print
Dining Al Fresco On Capri, Italy, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umberto Terrelli dining al fresco ...
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On the Sugarbush Slopes 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
On the Sugarbush Slopes 1960 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A group of people sit relaxing in a chalet on the slopes of the Sugarbush Mountain ski resort, one of the largest ski resor...
Archival Pigment
Skiers in Lech 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Skiers in Lech 1979 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Skiers line up for a hike to ski resort Zurs from Lech, Austria, February 1979 12 x 16" inches / 30 x 41 cm paper size Estate Sta...
Archival Pigment
Princess Caroline of Monaco
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Princess Caroline of Monaco 1981 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the es...
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'Poolside Pairs' 1970 Slim Aarons Premium Collection Estate Stamped 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
Hello There, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features film star Diana Dors (Diana Fluck) (1931 - 1984) in blonde bombshell pose on a satin-covered bed. T...
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$4,200
'Bettina Graziani' Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Bettina Graziani (1964) Limited Edition Estate Stamped C Type Print (Photo By Slim Aarons) French fashion model Bettina Graziani (Simone Micheline Bodin) (1925 – 2015) adjusting t...
Color, C Print
Motorboats In Antibes Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Motorboats In Antibes Motorboats moored on the coast near the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, August 1969. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate S...
Color, Archival Pigment
Lounging in Verbier, Swiss Alps, Estate Edition, Landscape Photograph Mountains
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swiss Alps, 1964: This landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holiday-makers taking in the sunset on a white snowy mountain top in Verbier, Swit...
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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 60" inches / 101 x 152 cm paper size. Photo by Slim Aarons Archival...
Color, Archival Pigment
Backgammon By The Pool (1959) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Backgammon By The Pool (1959) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL (Photo By Slim Aarons) Countess Peter Jean-Baptiste de Manio (left) and Mary-Beth Turner playing backgammon by a s...
Black and White, Archival Pigment
Faithful Couple: Mick Jagger & Marianne Faithfull at Leixlip Castle, Estate Ed.
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Slim Aarons's iconic and unusual photograph of 60's rock and roll legends, captured in a moment of casual glamour. 1968: Singer Marianne Faithfull, the Honorable Desmond Guinness and Mick Jagger (of the Rolling Stones) sit on a sofa under a large gilt framed portrait of a woman in 18th century silk dress at Leixlip Castle, Ireland, the home of Desmond Guinness. The sofa is a deep burgundy red, and the background features a richly patterned and gilded wallpaper...
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Domitilla Ruspoli, Rome, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Donna Domitilla Ruspoli in the gallery of the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome, 1960. The giant frescoes...
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The Bahamas 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
The Bahamas 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Swimming pool, seen through the fronds of a palm tree, with two people swimming and a group of people sitting at tables at the poolside...
Archival Pigment
Sunbathing in Capri, Catherine Wilke, 1980
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Sunbathing in Capri, Catherine Wilke 1980 Chromogenic Lambda print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Catherine Wilke...
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Alfresco Dining, Antibes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests dining at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, August. This is an estat...
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Alfresco Dining, Antibes, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests dining at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French Riviera, August. This is an estat...
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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...
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Anne Anka, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1970s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Anne Anka, wife of singer Paul Anka and daughter of Count Charles de Zogheb, with her daughters (lef...
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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...
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Sunbathing In Capri 1974 - Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sunbathing In Capri 1974 - Slim Aarons Estate Edition Sunbathers by a swimming pool in Capri, Italy, August 1974 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collecti...
Archival Pigment
Californian Party, Audrey Hepburn
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Californian Party, 1955 Chromogenic Lambda print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Belgian born actress Audrey Hepbu...
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Slim Aarons "Sea Drive" Unframed Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sea Drive 1967. Film producer Kevin McClory takes his wife Bobo Sigrist and their family for a drive in an ‘Amphicar’ across the harbour at Nassau. The children are Bianca Juarez (B...
Archival Pigment
$1,800
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 Italy, August 1984. This is an est...
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Sunbathing In Burgenstock 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sunbathing In Burgenstock 1955 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Lilian Hanson, sunbathing by a pool at the Burgenstock Resort in Canton Nidwalden, Switzerland, 1955. 40 x 60" inches / ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Pulitzer On The Beach 1955 - Oversize
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Slim Aarons Estate Print - Pulitzer On The Beach - Oversize Patsy Pulitzer (nee Patsy Bartlett) at Palm Beach, Florida, circa 1955. (Photo by Slim Aarons) silver gelatin print paper size 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm unframed printed later edition size 150 only certificate of authenticity supplied numbered in ink & blind embossed stamped Slim Aarons signature on front Authorised and issued by the Slim Aarons Archive & Estate c/o The Getty Archive London England and produced utilizing the original transparency. b/w black and white beach...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Britt Ekland, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Film star Britt Ekland (Britt-Marie Eklund) in Porto Ercole, Italy. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stampe...
Lambda
$3,000
Snorkelling In The Shallows 1959 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Snorkelling In The Shallows 1959 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A group of people snorkelling off a small boat in Malta, circa 1959 16 x 16" inches / 41 x 41 cm paper size Estate St...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Stocking Island, Bahamas' 1964 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Stocking Island, Bahamas' 1964 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print A high angle view of people swimming next to the ketch 'Traveler II', Stocking Island, Bahamas, 1964. 40 ...
Archival Pigment
Capri Tan 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Capri Tan 1968 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped 1968, A kneeling sunbather shows off her rings and pendant on a beach in Capri, Italy. 30 x 20" inches / 76 x 51 cm paper size Estate ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Let's Twirl' Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Let's Twirl' Film stars Tony Curtis (Bernard Schwarz) and his wife Janet Leigh (Jeanette Morrison) enjoying a dance at a Beverly Hills party held at James Mason's home. 40 x 30"...
Archival Pigment
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. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Edit...
Color, Archival Pigment
$1,800
Caprice On Capri, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features singer and actress Caprice Chantal (right) on the Italian island of Capri. This is an estate-stampe...
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Slim Aarons, Il Canille, Capri (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Il Canille, Capri, 1980 (printed later) C print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with Certificate of authenticity Sunbathers lounge on the white-painted terr...
C Print
$1,800
Beverly Hills Hotel, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features cars parked outside the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in California. This is an estate-st...
Lambda
$2,400
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1980s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features tourists resting from skiing at Cortina d'Ampezzo. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered ed...
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'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Keep Your Cool' Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco, 1978. Fashionable Alvarez wearing a white bikini and 'Brandy' sporting a sun hat are seated in the swimming pool playing backgammon in the heat of the Mexican sun. Typically 'Slim Poolside...
C Print
Harbour Isle Beach 1973 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Harbour Isle Beach 1973 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Holidaymakers on the beach at Harbour Isle in the Bahamas, March 1973. 24 x 20" inches / 61 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Jamaican Jewel
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Jamaican Jewel The swimming pool at the Jamaican home of Philadelphia jeweller Douglas Cooper, March 1970. Paper size 30 x 40" inches / 30 x 40 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edit...
Archival Pigment
New England Skiing, New Hampshire, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a couple preparing for a day's skiing in New Hampshire. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$7,410
'Nice Pool' Palm Beach 1965 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Nice Pool' American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C. Winston Guest, 1920 - 2003) and her son Alexander Michael Douglas Dudley Guest in front of their Grecian temple pool on the ocean-fr...
Archival Pigment
Eye Of The Beholder 1974 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Eye Of The Beholder 1974 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A man contemplates the sunbathers by a swimming pool in Capri, Italy, August 1974. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 101 cm paper size ...
Archival Pigment
Harbour Island, Bahamas 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Harbour Island, Bahamas 1967 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A couple relax at the beach on Harbour Island, Bahamas, 1967. 16 x 20" inches / 41 x 51 cm paper size Estate Stamped Co...
Archival Pigment
$5,400
Slim Aarons 'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank ‘Brandy’ Brandstetter in a swimming pool at Acapulco. Paper size 6...
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...
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Pop And Society, Ireland, 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, from left to right; singer Marianne Faithfull, the Honorable Desmond Guinness and Mick Jagger (of ...
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Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Dining Al Fresco On Capri
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Dining Al Fresco On Capri Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umbe...
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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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 30 x 30" inches / ca 76 x 76 cm’s paper size. Estate Stamped Collection Edi...
Archival Pigment
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...
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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...
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Slim Aarons Official Estate Edition - Barbados Bliss
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Barbados Bliss by Slim Aarons Ava Marshall relaxes with a book amongst the bougainvillea in Barbados, April 1976. 60 x 60 inches / 152 x 152 cm paper ...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Exotic Hair Care'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Exotic Hair Care 1989 C-print Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. A woman combing her hair by a waterfall at Rose Hal...
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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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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...
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