The photographs of Slim Aarons

Flipping through travel or fashion magazines, or simply scrolling through Instagram, Slim Aarons’ photographs are everywhere. Slim Aarons is one of the most famous and beloved photographers of all time.

Slim Aarons’ photographs are a journey into the past, enriched today by the ability to tell the story of all the charm of the last century, with its fashion, celebrities, and eccentricities. Slim Aarons’ photographs make you daydream.

Born in New Hampshire in 1912, Aarons was educated as a photojournalist and served as a war photographer during World War II. It was Frank Capa who hired him as a photojournalist for the military newspaper, The Stars and the Stripes.

Slim Aarons soon developed an aversion to everything that, in his view, revealed the true ugliness of the world: “After seeing a concentration camp, you no longer want to see anything horrible. It was in the war that I discovered the only beach worth landing on had to be full of girls in bikinis tanning in the sun.” And so it was, from that moment on.

“Photographing attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” This was Slim Aarons’ mission. To document the sweet life of the golden age, capturing the international jet set, from Marilyn Monroe to Marisa Berenson, from Aristotle Onassis to Mick Jagger.

He married Lorita Dewart in 1951, who would become known simply as Rita Aarons.
Rita met Aarons at the editorial office of Life magazine, where she worked as an assistant, and after their marriage, she also worked with him in the magazine’s Italian office in Rome.

He photographed her in some of his most famous images, such as the well-known 1954 photo “Christmas Swim,” in which his wife, lying on an inflatable mattress in a pool, with a decorated Christmas tree emerging from the water, floats among sparkling Christmas balls that three children try to catch as they lean over the edge. “It was cold, and she was really pissed off,” Slim Aarons would later recall.

When Slim passed away in 2006, Rita discovered that, throughout his life, he had kept his humble origins hidden from her, because they would have prevented him from entering the glamorous world he photographed in countless ways. Slim Aarons was the son of very poor Yiddish immigrants living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, shuttled from relative to relative after his mother was placed in a psychiatric hospital.

From Capri to Acapulco, Hollywood, Saint-Tropez, even today, Slim Aarons’ photographs tell a visual story of the most exclusive vacation destinations in the world.

Pools and sun-drenched gardens, yachts and grand villas were his favorite settings.
“Whether it was the Italian Riviera, the Swiss Alps, or the Arizona desert, Slim captured the essence of a place through photographs of people who appreciated its unique style” recalls Kathryn Livingston, longtime director of Town & Country, who often worked with Slim.

The most surprising thing about Slim Aarons’ photographs is that they appear natural and informal: his subjects are in their own environments, not in front of a set, and never used stylists or makeup artists. There was a sense of suspension and superficiality around them. Everyone in his photos looks more beautiful.

When Slim Aarons published A Wonderful Time, his photo album, in 1974, the book failed, accused of being obsessively focused on wealth.
Three decades later, it became an essential inspiration for the best designers, creative directors, and interior decorators; copies now sell for up to $2,000.

In the 21st century, his work has inspired figures like Ralph Lauren and Jonathan Adler, among many other interior designers and stylists who owe to him that carefree, happy, optimistic style.
“I photograph people who wear clothes, and then those clothes become fashionable.”
It was considered an axiom that in his reports, three items could never be seen: t-shirts, sneakers, and jeans.

Slim Aarons was drawn to the beauty, elegance, and excess of Italy.
Aarons’ photographs also offer a sparkling glimpse into the most exclusive villas in Italy, private properties, fashionable resorts, and renowned beach clubs in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

In 1997, Slim Aarons sold his archive to Getty Images, which included thousands and thousands of prints and negatives.

As reported in an article published by Town & Country, Aarons decided to sell his archive because he believed that society, as it had been, no longer existed, and he wanted the public to see it as he had documented it. He correctly sensed that this new generation, so absorbed in money, success, and luxury, would appreciate his images of meticulously maintained estates and private islands. Now that the world has been flooded with noisy and ugly tabloid media, it would be a relief to revisit elegant and more graceful times.

“Where does Slim Aarons take you today? What’s a typical day in the life of a jet-setter like?
First, let me tell you what it isn’t. It’s not like a music video where you live large, with loud music, shouting and laughter, champagne sprayed on the half-naked bodies of handsome dancers.
No.
Listen.
The birds. The bougainvillea. The serenity of nature. The sweet smell of jasmine. The shimmering pool. The buzz of a bee. What you’ll notice and remember is the exquisite silence of the rich.
It’s your typical jet-set day. You wake up at ten, and breakfast is served in your room on a silver tray. Or, if you’re not a morning person, you leisurely settle onto the terrace. Around eleven, you’re at the pool chatting about what happened the night before: the romances, the faux pas, the juiciest gossip. You don’t have a cell phone, laptop, or iPod—those haven’t been invented yet—so before heading to the pool, you’ve made all your calls efficiently, not to keep the host’s line tied up—calling your wife, your lover, your kids, your banker, your pharmacist…“
– Christopher Sweet, A Place in the Sun

Bibliography
Aarons, Slim (1974). A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of the Good Life. Harper and Row.
Aarons, Slim (2003). Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time. Harry N. Abrams.
Aarons, Slim; Sweet, Christopher (2005). Slim Aarons: A Place in the Sun. Harry N. Abrams.
Aarons, Slim (2007). Poolside With Slim Aarons. Harry N. Abrams.
Aarons, Slim; Sweet, Christopher (2012). Slim Aarons: La Dolce Vita (Getty Images). Harry N. Abrams.
Aarons, Slim (2016). Slim Aarons: Women. Harry N. Abrams.

All Images Rights: Getty Images

Cover Images: Slim Aarons, Poolside Pairs