1955
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.
Esther Williams Poolside, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress and former swimming champion, Esther Williams, in a Florida swimming pool, 1955 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 inches $3000 Complimentary deal...
Lambda
Slim Aarons: Esther Williams In Pool (Limited Edition Estate Stamped)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American actress and former swimming champion, Esther Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013), in a Florida swimming pool. 40 x 40 inches $3950 30 x 30 inches $3350 20 x 20 in...
Lambda
Esther Williams, Poolside, Estate Edition, 1950s Florida
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American swimmer and movie star Esther Williams by the pool in Florida, 1955. Slim Aarons Esther Williams Chromogenic Lambda print Printed Later Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer. 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Internal: Slim Aarons, Esther Williams, midcentury modern, Vintage Esther Williams, Vintage Poolside Series, Vintage Movie Stars, Vintage Swimmers...
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Esther Williams, Poolside (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swimmer and movie star Esther Williams by the pool in Florida, 1955. Slim Aarons Esther Williams Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer. 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Internal: Slim Aarons, Esther Williams, midcentury modern, Vintage Esther Williams, Vintage Poolside Series, Vintage Movie Stars, Vintage Swimmers...
Lambda
Slim Aarons, Esther Williams, Poolside (Slim Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Swimmer and movie star Esther Williams by the pool in Florida, 1955. Slim Aarons Esther Williams Chromogenic Lambda print Slim Aarons Estate Edition Printed later. Complimentary dealer shipping to your framer. 60 x 40 inches $3950 40 x 30 inches $3350 30 x 20 inches $3000 Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons (1916-2006) portrayed high society, aristocracy, authors, artists, business icons, the celebrated and their milieu. In doing so, he captured a golden age of wealth, privilege, beauty and leisure that occurred alongside—but quite separate from—the cultural and political backdrop of the second half of the Twentieth Century. The Slim Aarons Estate has released the limited Estate edition as a Lambda print, which is a modern c-type prints. They have chosen Lambda prints for their sharpness, clarity, colour saturation and quality, compared to archival inkjet prints. Lambda printing gives true continuous tone. Slide show includes a close-up of the Slim Aarons estate's stamp. Collector will get the next number in the edition * We are pleased to offer the entire archive of the Slim Aarons Estate, offering the official Slim Aarons Estate Edition (only offered in this edition of 150). Please contact us for additional photographs from Slim Aarons * Internal: Slim Aarons, Esther Williams, midcentury modern, Vintage Esther Williams, Vintage Poolside Series, Vintage Movie Stars, Vintage Swimmers...
Lambda
Esther Williams in Florida, Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in Los Angeles, CA
American swimmer and actress Esther Williams by the pool with friends in Florida, 1955 Over the course of a career lasting half a century, Slim Aarons...
Lambda
Esther Williams Poolside (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
American actress and former swimming champion, Esther Williams, in a Florida swimming pool, 1955 Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity fro...
Lambda
Esther Williams in Pool, Florida, circa 1955
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
Esther Williams Poolside (Aarons Estate Edition)
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
American swimmer and actress Esther Williams in Florida in 1955. Estate stamped and hand numbered edition of 150 with certificate of authenticity from the estate. Slim Aarons (191...
Lambda
Esther Williams (1956) Limited Estate Stamped - Grande XL
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Esther Williams (1956) Limited Estate Stamped (Photo By Slim Aarons) Esther Williams, the American aquatic actress and former swimming champion, relaxing in a Florida swimming pool. 1956. About this image: Esther Jane Williams...
Color, Archival Pigment
'Esther Williams' 1962 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
'Esther Williams' Esther Williams, American aquatic actress and former swimming champion, relaxing in a Florida swimming pool, 1962. Paper Size 24x20 inches / 60 x 50 cm Estat...
Color, Archival Pigment
Esther Williams 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped
By Slim Aarons
Located in London, GB
Esther Williams 1956 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped Esther Williams, American aquatic actress and former swimming champion, relaxing in a Florida swimming pool. 30 x 30" inches / 76 ...
Archival Pigment
