Marina Piccola 1954 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Winter Wear' 1976 Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
'Esther Williams' Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Underwater Drink Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$5,400
Beach At Saint Tropez 1977 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Cortina d’Ampezzo Limited Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Harbour Island
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$3,900
Beach At Saint Tropez 1977 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Dinner Jazz 1949
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin
$3,900
Slim Aarons 'Keep Your Cool' 1978 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Skiing Waiters' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II. Though he earned a Purple Heart for his service, he declared that combat had taught him that the only beach worth la...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - Harbour Island
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Poolside In Arizona
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Edition - Barbados Bliss
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Official Estate Print - Pool At Las Brisas
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Skiing Waiters' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II. Though he earned a Purple Heart for his service, he declared that combat had taught him that the only beach worth la...
Lambda
Giacomo Montegazza Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Skiing Waiters' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II. Though he earned a Purple Heart for his service, he declared that combat had taught him that the only beach worth la...
Lambda
Giacomo Montegazza Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Hotel Sports Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Underwater Drink Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons Estate Edition - All Aboard
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
Beach At Saint Tropez 1977 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Lech Ice Bar 1960 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Snowmass Village 1968 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Florida Palms 1978 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Pool At Las Hadas 1974 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Marbella House Party 1967 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Laguna Beach 1970 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Marina Piccola 1954 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Faithful Couple 1968 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Dining In Gstaad 1961 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Colourful Crew 1970 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Catherine Wilke 1980 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Capri Holiday 1958 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Conca dei Marini 1984 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Bahamas Speed Week 1963 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Ocean Club 1968 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Countess On Deck 1982 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Giacomo Montegazza 1983 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$6,100
Slim Aarons Cortina d’Ampezzo 1982 Limited Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$4,200
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin 1970 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Hotel Sports 1958 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Portofino 1985 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$5,400
Sunbathing In Antibes 1976 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Speedboat Landing 1973 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
$7,020
Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc 1976 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Keep Your Cool 1978 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
El Venero 1967 Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment
Las Brisas Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Linda Shaw Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Laguna Beach Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Andros Island Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Marisa Berenson Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Fishing Boats Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Marina Piccola Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Menton Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Marina Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Lillian Crawford Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
Exuma Holiday Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Aarons began his career as a combat photographer in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. Reflecting on that experience, he famously remarked that the only beach worth landing on was...
Archival Pigment, Color
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.