Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Palm Beach Debutantes (1968) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Palm Beach Debutantes (1968) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Young debutantes in Palm Beach, Florida, 1968.
Color, Archival Pigment
Palm Beach Pastels (1959) Limited Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Palm Beach Pastels (1959) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida, 1959.
Color, Archival Pigment
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Palm Beach Pagoda, Florida, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1980s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Cynthia Eichler (sitting) with Vicky Schaft Bruder (centre) and Cathy Tankoos (Mrs Joseph T...
Lambda
Nice Pool, Palm Beach, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American writer C.Z. Guest (Mrs F.C.
Lambda
Price Upon Request
Peter and Lilly Pulitzer, Palm Beach, Florida
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and housed by Getty Images Archive in London. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Get...
Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons 'Pulitzer Pool Party' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Pulitzer Pool Party 1961 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the Slim Aarons estate Max size 40x4...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pulitzer Fashions' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A young girl stands with three women wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer as they take a break from shooting during a fashion shoot for Pulitzer at 400 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, Fl...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pool Golf' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A man holds a golf club poolside while American actor Lee Kinsolving chats with his partner, Lillian Kinsolving (née Crawford), in the pool at the home of Albin and Margo Lykes Holde...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pool Golf' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A man holds a golf club poolside while American actor Lee Kinsolving chats with his partner, Lillian Kinsolving (née Crawford), in the pool at the home of Albin and Margo Lykes Holde...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pulitzer Fashions' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A young girl stands with three women wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer as they take a break from shooting during a fashion shoot for Pulitzer at 400 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, Fl...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Three Sisters' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Shoppers on the pavement outside a Three Sisters boutique in Florida, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Three Sisters 1955 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 1...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Three Sisters' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Shoppers on the pavement outside a Three Sisters boutique in Florida, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Three Sisters 1955 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 1...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Golf Spectators' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A man wearing a bathrobe stands among the spectators at the Seminole Golf Club, Florida, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Golf Spectators 1955 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand ...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Golf Spectators' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A man wearing a bathrobe stands among the spectators at the Seminole Golf Club, Florida, circa 1955. Slim Aarons Golf Spectators 1955 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand ...
Silver Gelatin
$3,600
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$4,200
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$5,400
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$3,000
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$2,400
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$1,800
Palm Beach Pastels, Florida, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features socialite Alice Topping relaxing by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$1,800
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Lambda
$4,200
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Lambda
$3,000
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Lambda
$3,600
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Lambda
$5,400
Wendy Vanderbilt, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1960s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features American socialite Wendy Vanderbilt at home in Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Lambda
$3,000
Alice Topping, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Socialite Alice Topping by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$1,800
Alice Topping, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Socialite Alice Topping by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$2,400
Alice Topping, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Socialite Alice Topping by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$3,600
Alice Topping, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Socialite Alice Topping by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$4,200
Alice Topping, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late 1950s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Socialite Alice Topping by a swimming pool in Palm Beach, Florida.
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
$3,000
Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Diana 'Dysie' Davie, wife of ...
Lambda
$1,800
Palm Beach Idyll, Florida, 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 couple sunbathing by the sea at Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$1,800
Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Diana 'Dysie' Davie, wife of T Bedford Davie, poses for the painter John Orr in her home in Wort...
Lambda
$2,400
Portrait Sitting, Palm Beach, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Diana 'Dysie' Davie, wife of T Bedford Davie, poses for the painter John Orr in her home in Wort...
Lambda
$2,400
Palm Beach Idyll, Florida, 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 couple sunbathing by the sea at Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$3,000
Palm Beach Idyll, Florida, 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 couple sunbathing by the sea at Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
$3,600
Palm Beach Idyll, Florida, 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 couple sunbathing by the sea at Palm Beach, Florida.
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Arts Festival' Unframed Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Arts Festival by Slim Aarons The Palm Beach Arts Festival Procession, Florida, 1964.
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
C.Z.Guest, Villa Artemis, Palm Beach, 1955
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and house by Getty Images Archive in London. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Gett...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Lilly Pulitzer Fashions' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Three women wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer take a break from shooting during a fashion shoot for Pulitzer at 400 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, Florida, 1964. Slim Aarons Lilly ...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Everglades Club Boogie Dancer' Mid-century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
American actress Lanita Kent takes to the dance floor at a party hosted by Jim Kimberly at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1968. Slim Aarons Boogie Dancer 1968 C-...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Everglades Club Dancers' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Patrick Lannan and Marcia Pressman enjoy a dance together at a party hosted by Jim Kimberly at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1968. Slim Aarons Patrick Lannan And...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Polo Player Close Up' Mid-century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A close-up portrait shot of a polo player in Palm Beach, Florida, 1977. Slim Aarons Polo Player Close Up 1970 C-Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with ...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pulitzer Pool Party' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Pulitzer Pool Party 1961 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the Slim Aarons estate Max size 40x4...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Pulitzer Pool Party' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Pulitzer Pool Party 1961 Fiber Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the Slim Aarons estate Max size 40x4...
Silver Gelatin
NEW Slim Aarons 'Everglades Club Boogie Dancer' Mid-century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
American actress Lanita Kent takes to the dance floor at a party hosted by Jim Kimberly at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1968. Slim Aarons Boogie Dancer 1968 C-...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Everglades Club Dancers' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Patrick Lannan and Marcia Pressman enjoy a dance together at a party hosted by Jim Kimberly at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, April 1968. Slim Aarons Patrick Lannan And...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Polo Player Close Up' Mid-century Modern
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A close-up portrait shot of a polo player in Palm Beach, Florida, 1977. Slim Aarons Polo Player Close Up 1970 C-Print Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with ...
C Print
NEW Slim Aarons 'Lilly Pulitzer Fashions' Mid-century Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Three women wearing designs by Lilly Pulitzer take a break from shooting during a fashion shoot for Pulitzer at 400 South Ocean Blvd., Palm Beach, Florida, 1964. Slim Aarons Lilly ...
C Print
Price Upon Request
C.Z. Guest with Consuelo Vanderbilt, Palm Beach
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Staley-Wise Gallery offers photographic prints from the Slim Aarons Archive, owned and housed by Getty Images Archive in London. All photographs are printed and authorized by the Get...
C Print
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.