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.
Il San Pietro di Positano - Limited Edition C-Type, Slim Aarons Summer Series
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Il San Pietro di Positano, 1984 is a Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-Type Print by 20th Century American Photographer Slim Aarons. 16" x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate S...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
$3,900
Slim Aarons 'Marina Piccola' 1968 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Marina Piccola, Capri by Slim Aarons A view towards sunbathers on the beach by the Bagni da Maria restaurant in Marina Piccola on Capri, Italy, 1968. The Faraglioni di Capri rocks ...
Archival Pigment
$3,900
Slim Aarons Porto Ercole 1973 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Porto Ercole by Slim Aarons A jetty juts out from the rocky shoreline at the Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1973. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty ...
Archival Pigment
Majorelle Garden, Marrakesh, Morocco - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Majorelle Garden, Marrakesh is a Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-Type Print by 20th Century American Photographer Slim Aarons. 16" x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamp...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
$6,100
Slim Aarons Dining Al Fresco Supersize Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dining Al Fresco Capri 1980 by Slim Aarons Italian artist and actress Domiziana Giordano, Italian author Francesca Sanvitale (1928 - 2011), Dino Trappetti and Umberto Terrelli dinin...
C Print
Sports Car Couple, Estate Edition photograph, midcentury 1950s London
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1955: John Bryant with his AC sports car in Kinnerton Place, London SW1. His passenger is Margaret McAulay. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, worldwide. Undercurrent P...
Lambda
Sailboat In San Diego, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early-1960s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Mrs Cuddihy Perry, her son, and Mrs George H. Gentry with a sailboat on a beach in San Diego, Califor...
Lambda
Sunbathing Antibes, 1976 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Sunbathing Antibes, 1976 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Sunbathing Antibes, 1976 is a Limited Edition Estate ...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Capri Holiday, 1958 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped Color C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Capri Holiday, 1958 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Capri Holiday, 1958' by Slim Aarons is a Limited Edition Es...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Poolside Party - Limited Slim Aarons Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Slim Aarons Estate Limited Edition C print 40 x 30 inches / 101 x 76 cm unframed. ' Poolside Party ' A poolside party at a desert house, designed by Richard Neutra for Edgar J. K...
C Print, Color
Palm Springs Riders, 1970 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped Color C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Palm Springs Riders, 1970 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Digital C-Type print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Like a scene out of an Indiana J...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Les Sophores, Saint-Tropez, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Janine Bril in the garden of Les Sophores, her villa in Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is ...
Lambda
$5,400
Slim Aarons 'Playboy Party' 1961 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Playboy Party' Guests of American publisher Hugh Hefner, December 1961. 60 x 40" inches / 152 x 102 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aaro...
Archival Pigment
$3,600
Slim Aarons Pellicano Pool 1980 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Pellicano Pool by Slim Aarons Holidaymakers relax beside the swimming pool of Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1980. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty...
Archival Pigment
Racing at Baden-Baden - Estate Stamped C-Type Print, Limited Edition, 16 x 20
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Racing at Baden-Baden by Slim Aarons 16" x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Racing at Baden-Baden' ...
Digital, Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
Slim Aarons, Skiing in St Moritz, 1983 - 16 x 20 Estate Stamp C-Type Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Skiing in St Moritz, 1983 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Skiing in St Moritz' is a beautiful Limited Edition E...
C Print, Color, Photographic Paper, Digital
Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc, France, 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 people waterskiing from the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, France. This is an estate-stamped...
Lambda
Sardinian Holiday Slim Aarons Limited Estate Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Sardinian Holiday Selvaggia Borromeo enjoys a yachting holiday on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, 1967. Gorgeous print measuring 40 x 30 inches / ca 101 x 76 cm's. Estate Stamp...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons 'Coming Ashore' 1973 Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Coming Ashore' 1973 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto ...
Color
Signpost In St. Moritz, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a signpost indicating various ski slopes and toboggan tracks in the resort of St Moritz,...
Lambda
Keep Your Cool, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1970s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Carmen Alvarez enjoying a game of backgammon with Frank 'Brandy' Brandstetter in a swimming pool in Ac...
Lambda
$1,800
Cannes Watersports, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1950s photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features holidaymakers waterskiing from the pier of the Carlton Hotel, Cannes. This is an estate-stamped an...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Backgammon Players'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
A group of people playing backgammon by a swimming pool at Marbella Beach Club, Spain, September 1970. Slim Aarons Backgammon Players 1970 (printed later) C print Estate signature s...
Lambda
'Dinner Jazz' 1949 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Dinner Jazz' 1949: American Jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong (1898 – 1971) enjoys a plate of spaghetti in Rome. 30x30 inches / 76 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Co...
Silver Gelatin, Black and White
$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. This is an estate stamped and hand ...
Lambda
Inga Lindgren And Poodles, New York, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swedish model Inga Lindgren, wife of Argentinian finance minister Ceferino Alonso Irigoyen, wears designs by Vera Stewart with her standard poodles Aja...
Emulsion, Photographic Paper, ABS, Black and White, Digital, Photogram
Poolside Friendship, Palm Springs, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1970 portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features Nelda Linsk (left, in yellow), wife of art dealer Joseph Linsk with guests by the pool at the Li...
Lambda
Christmas Swim - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print, 16 x 20
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Christmas Swim by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Christmas Swim' is a Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-T...
Digital, Color, Photographic Paper, C Print
$5,400
Saint-Tropez Boucherie, French Riviera, Estate Edition Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Discover the quintessence of French Riviera charm in Slim Aarons' iconic photograph, 'Saint-Tropez Boucherie,' on Rue des Commercants, Saint-Tropez, 1971. This image is a beautiful intersection of fashion, culture, and everyday life in the sun-drenched streets of Saint-Tropez in August 1971. This photograph features a casual yet captivating scene: two women and a young girl, all dressed in vibrant, vintage early '70s attire in shades of mint green, lemon yellow, and pink, enjoying a leisurely conversation outside a classic red French boucherie or butcher shop. A chic gold and white bicycle, representative of the laid-back Mediterranean lifestyle, is parked unassumingly on the sidewalk. Adding depth to the scene, the shop's proprietor, clad in a purple shirt, can be spotted through the window, lending an authentic touch to the photograph. An enchanting Moroccan-style zellige tile...
Lambda
The St. Regis, New York, Estate Edition, Event Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This mid-1950s event photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of diners at the St. Regis, New York. This is an estate stamped and hand numbe...
Lambda
Corsica Island Paradise, 1984, Slim Aarons Estate Limited Edition Print ED.150
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
August 1984: Topless swimmers on a rocky promontory of the Mediterranean island of Cavallo, Corsica. Slim Aarons Island Paradise 1984 C print (Printed l...
C Print
Skiers In St. Moritz, Switzerland, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photo
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s landscape photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features skiers in St Moritz, Switzerland, March 1963. This is an estate stamped and hand number...
Lambda
Party At The Playboy Mansion, Chicago, Estate Edition, Portrait Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This early 1960s lifestyle photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features guests of American publisher Hugh Hefner enjoying themselves at a party being held at th...
Lambda
'Camelback Inn' 1967 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Camelback Inn' A view of the Camelback Inn, Scottsdale Arizona, April 1967. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Slim Aaron...
Color, Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, Estate Edition, Self Portrait with Cigarette in Capri, 1960s
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Photographer Slim Aarons (right) on board a yacht off Capri, Italy, September 1968. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Certificate of Authenticity included Numbered and stamped by the Slim...
Lambda
Slim Aarons Hotel Il San Pietro 1979 Official Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Hotel Il San Pietro by Slim Aarons Guests at the Hotel Il San Pietro in Positano, Italy, August 1979. (Photo by Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 30x20" inches / 76 x 51 c...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, Palm Beach Debutantes (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Young debutantes in Palm Beach, Florida, 1968. Slim Aarons Palm Beach Debutantes Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer, wo...
Lambda
$6,100
Saint-Tropez Beach, 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 people sunbathing on the beach at Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. This is an estate-stamped and...
Lambda
Marbella Club Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Marbella Club The swimming pool of the Marbella Club in Andalucia looks out over the sea, 1976 16 × 16 inches - paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition to 150 Photo by Sl...
Archival Pigment, Color
Il Pellicano Tennis, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
An Aston Martin DB6 sports car driving past the tennis courts at Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, Tuscany, August 1973. Slim Aarons Estate Edition, C...
Lambda
Britt Ekland 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Britt Ekland 1969 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Film star Britt Ekland (Britt-Marie Eklund) in Porto Ercole, Italy. 1969. 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm paper size Estate Stamped Co...
Archival Pigment
Tennis in The Bahamas, 1957 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Tennis in The Bahamas, 1957 by Slim Aarons 16 x 16" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. "Tennis in the Bahamas, 1957" is a beautiful Limited...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Sea Drive, 1967 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Sea Drive, 1967 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Please note that as part of the Estate's Premium Collection, th...
Photographic Paper, Color, C Print, Digital
Yacht Holiday C Print by Slim Aarons, Estate Signed, 40x60"
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Tanned bodies on the deck of Dino Pecci Blunt's yacht in Marbella, 1967. Slim Aarons Yacht Holiday 1967 C print (Printed later) Estate signature stamped and hand numbered edition of...
C Print
Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. A...
Lambda
Speedboat Landing - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Speedboat Landing - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped August 1973:A Magnum motorboat belonging to Count Filippo Theodoli arrives at the private jetty of the Il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Er...
Archival Pigment
Slim Aarons, Poolside Pairs, Kaufmann House
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Slim Aarons Kaufmann Desert House 1970 C Print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity January 1970: The Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, ...
Lambda
Polo Match, Argentina, Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This 1990s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features a polo match in play. This is an estate-stamped and hand-numbered edition of 150 with a certificate of aut...
Lambda
$3,000
Social Call, Mexico, 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 Charley Weaver at the Las Brisas resort in Acapulco, Mexico. This is an estate-stamped and hand-n...
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Signpost In St. Moritz (Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Poolside In Kenya, 1958 Chromogenic Lambda Print Estate edition of 150 A signpost indicating various ski slopes and toboggan tracks in the resort of St Moritz, Switzerland, March 19...
Lambda
La Fontelina, Italy, Slim Aarons Estate Edition, Mid-Century Modern Photograph
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This late-1980s photograph, taken by society photographer Slim Aarons, features an aerial view of sunbathers and parasols at La Fontelina beach, at the base of the Faraglioni rocks o...
Lambda
Slim Aarons 'Palm Beach Society' Slim Aarons Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jim Kimberly and his wife (far left) and friends with his white sports car and white boats moored on Lake Worth. A Palm Beach socialite, Kimberly acts as Honorary Consul of Jordan. April 1968. (Slim Aarons / Getty Images) Slim Aarons Palm Beach Society...
Lambda
$4,900
Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc -Slim Aarons - colour C print photography - 20th century
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc' by Slim Aarons ESTATE EDITION - numbered and emboss stamped on front. (edition size 150 only) Waterskiing from the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, ...
C Print
Slim Aarons 'Snorkelling In Antigua' Unframed Limited Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Snorkelling In Antigua by Slim Aarons A woman wearing a scuba diving mask carries a pair of flippers and a harpoon gun, Antigua, West Indies, 1960. (Photo...
Archival Pigment
Mill Reef Club, Antigua, 1960 (Unseen)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
The beach club at at the Mill Reef Club on Antigua in the West Indies, 1960. Mill Reef Beach Club, Antigua 1960 C print (Printed later) Estate signature stamped and hand numbered ed...
C Print
Dapper Cricketers 1957 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Dapper Cricketers 1957 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped A group of cricketers in team uniform, Bermuda, 1957 12 x 12" inches / 30 x 30 cm paper size Estate Stamped Collection Edition...
Archival Pigment
Tennis In The Bahamas Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Tennis In The Bahamas 1957 by Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Two women stand talking to a man on the edge of a tennis court in the Bahamas, circa 1957. Behind the main group stand a second group of people talking...
Archival Pigment
No Transport Problems 1982 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
No Transport Problems 1982 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Mrs Woolworth Donahue with car and bicycles on her motor yacht, ‘Hartline’. 30 x 40" inches / 76 x 102 cm paper size Estat...
Archival Pigment
NEW: Slim Aarons 'Safari Party at Romanoff's' Midcentury Modern Photography
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Guests at a fancy dress party held at the Romanoff Restaurant in Hollywood, Los Angeles in 1950. Slim Aarons Safari Party at Romanoff's, 1950 Chromogenic Lambda print Estate stampe...
Silver Gelatin
Lunch at La Pigna, 1980 - Limited Edition Estate Stamped Color C-Type Print
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Lunch at La Pigna, 1980 by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. Lunch at Pigna, August 1980 by Slim Aarons is a Limited ...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital