Slim Aarons 'Portofino Villa'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Private Island, Philippines'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
Lambda
Marilyn Candid Moment (1955) Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
By Michael Ochs
Located in London, GB
Marilyn Candid Moment (1955) Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Ed Feingersh/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) NEW YORK - MARCH 1955: Actress Marilyn Monroe reads the book "To ...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Sabrina (1953) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
Located in London, GB
Sabrina (1953) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) October 1953: Belgian-born actor Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) leans out of a car window on the set ...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Park Stones (1929) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
Located in London, GB
Happy Marilyn (1956) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Roger Jackson/Central Press/Getty Images) 11th January 1967: Top British pop group the Rolling Stones taking a stroll th...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Film And Field Stars (1966) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
By Larry Ellis
Located in London, GB
Film And Field Stars (1966) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images) 12th July 1966: From left to right, Jimmy Greaves, Sean Connery, Yul Brynner (1...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons 'Pussyfooting'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Portofino Villa'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Lambda
Ponting: In the Pack (1910) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print
By Herbert Ponting
Located in London, GB
Ponting: In the Pack (1910) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images) A penguin wanders across th...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons 'Exotic Hair Care'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Spanning six decades of a lifestyle many dream of but few experience. Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allow his images to print up to t...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'El Dorado Beach'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Amalfi Coast' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Verbier Skier'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allows us to print his images up to the largest photographic sizes, inviting us to step into these dazz...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Verbier Skier'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allows us to print his images up to the largest photographic sizes, inviting us to step into these dazz...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Amalfi Coast' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Carmen Meyrink-Veiga'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons The Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Exotic Hair Care'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Spanning six decades of a lifestyle many dream of but few experience. Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allow his images to print up to t...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Plantation Cocoyer'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Spanning six decades of a lifestyle many dream of but few experience. Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allow his images to print up to t...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Private Island, Philippines'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Pussyfooting'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Civilised Snooze'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons The Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Lake Tahoe Trip 2 (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Lake Tahoe Trip (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Swimmer and Sunbather (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allows us to print his images up to the largest photographic sizes, inviting us to step into these dazz...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'El Dorado Beach'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Christiane De Lichtervelde' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Algarve Hotel Pool'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Portofino Villa'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate.
Lambda
Her Royal Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II In Lilac - signed limited edition
By Chris Jackson
Located in London, GB
The Queen was on a two day tour of the East Midlands as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour of the country. by Official Getty Images Royal Photographer Chris Jackson.
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Villa Cipriani' (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Amalfi Coast' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Girolamo Strozzi' (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
Lambda
Her Royal Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II In Lilac - signed limited edition
By Chris Jackson
Located in London, GB
The Queen was on a two day tour of the East Midlands as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour of the country. by Official Getty Images Royal Photographer Chris Jackson.
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Verbier Skier'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allows us to print his images up to the largest photographic sizes, inviting us to step into these dazz...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Pussyfooting'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Slim Aarons 'The Bahamas Speed Week in Nassau' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Slim Aarons '''Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
$1,200
Duke And Duchess of Cambridge Call Time - signed limited edition
By Chris Jackson
Located in London, GB
He was News Photographer of the Year in 2005 As well as heading up the Royal coverage at Getty Images Chris is an experienced assignment and reportage photographer.
Archival Pigment
Smiling Catherine The Duchess of Cambridge - signed limited edition
By Chris Jackson
Located in London, GB
He was News Photographer of the Year in 2005 As well as heading up the Royal coverage at Getty Images Chris is an experienced assignment and reportage photographer.
Archival Pigment
Her Royal Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II In Blue - signed limited edition
By Chris Jackson
Located in London, GB
Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she meets people being helped by the Prince’s Trust at the Prince’s Trust Centre in Kennington on March 8, 2016 in London England. by Official Getty Ima...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Gucci Pooch' Venice
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Pussyfooting'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
C Print
Saint-Tropez Boucherie (Slim Aarons Estate Print)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Expert darkroom work on the originals allows us to print his images up to the largest photographic sizes, inviting us to step into these dazzling images of the good life. © Slim Aaro...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Great Harbour Cay Bahamas'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
$4,200
Slim Aarons Freeport Beach Bahamas (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
$4,200
Slim Aarons Exuma Holiday Bahamas (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Slim Aarons Checkered Flag (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
$3,000
Slim Aarons Freeport Yachts Bahamas (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Exotic Hair Care'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Spanning six decades of a lifestyle many dream of but few experience. Held at the Getty Images Hulton Archive, expert darkroom work on the originals allow his images to print up to t...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Relaxing at the Palm Springs Tennis Club'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'St Tropez Garden' (Slim Aarons Estate edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Saint-Tropez Sunbathers' (Slim Aarons Estate Esdtion)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Saint Tropez Seafront' (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
All photographs are printed and authorized by Getty Images Gallery, London. Expert darkroom work on the original negatives allow us to print his images up to the largest photographic...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Pool In St Tropez'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
(Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Slim Aarons (1916-2006) worked mainly for society publications photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attract...
Lambda
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.
Find a broad range of photography on 1stDibs today.
The first permanent image created by a camera — which materialized during the 1820s — is attributed to Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The French inventor was on to something for sure. Kodak introduced roll film in the 1880s, allowing photography to become more democratic, although cameras wouldn’t be universally accessible until several decades later.
Digital photographic techniques, software, smartphone cameras and social-networking platforms such as Instagram have made it even easier in the modern era for budding photographers to capture the world around them as well as disseminate their images far and wide.
What might leading figures of visual art such as Andy Warhol have done with these tools at their disposal?
Today, when we aren’t looking at the digital photos that inundate us on our phones, we look to the past to celebrate the photographers who have broken rules as well as records — provocative and prolific artists like Horst P. Horst, Lillian Bassman and Helmut Newton, who altered the face of fashion and portrait photography; visionary documentary photographers such as Gordon Parks, whose best-known work was guided by social justice; and pioneers of street photography such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, who shot for revolutionary travel magazines like Holiday with the likes of globetrotting society lensman Slim Aarons.
Find photographers you may not know in Introspective and The Study — where you’ll read about Berenice Abbott, who positioned herself atop skyscrapers for the perfect shot, or “conceptual artist-adventurer” Charles Lindsay, whose work combines scientific rigor with artistic expression, or Massimo Listri, known for his epic interiors of opulent Old World libraries. Photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron was given a Kodak camera as a child. Later, she shot on Polaroid film before buying her first 35mm camera in her teens. Barron's stunning portraits of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Warhol and other artists chronicle a crucial chapter of New York’s cultural history.
Throughout the past two centuries, photographers have used their medium to create expressive work that has resonated for generations. Shop a voluminous collection of this powerful fine photography on 1stDibs. Search by photographer to find the perfect piece for your living room wall, or spend some time with the work organized under various categories, such as landscape photography, nude photography and more.