Slim Aarons: A Place in the Sun

by Slim Aarons

Overview

A Place in the Sun collects Slim Aarons’s photographs capturing the glamorous lifestyles of some of high society’s most prominent people.

“Slim Aarons is known for his dreamy lifestyle photographs of celebrities and socialites in jaw-dropping locations around the world.” —Architectural Digest

Since 1940 Slim Aarons has been hard at work, first as a war photographer, then with unprecedented access as a photographer to the rich and famous. In this book, he develops the environmental portrait to the level of art, always showing his subjects in their natural setting, in a circumstance synonymous with their station in life.

Aarons documented a particular world that has vanished. A Place in the Sun is that special glimpse of privilege under a bright and beaming sky, whether on sandy shore, snowy slope, or elegant home where cares are few. Through 250 stunning color pictures, Aarons provides a veritable Who’s Who of high society:

• Aristotle Onassis with his first wife, Tina, and their children
• C. Z. Guest at her villa in Palm Beach
• The Aga Khan at his Sardinian resort
• Truman Capote in Palm Springs
• And more!

From Mustique to Monaco, from Aspen to Gstaad, only Aarons can take us on a journey to the most exclusive playgrounds of the rich, inspiring even the most jaded armchair traveler.

Aarons never used a stylist, a makeup artist, or anything but natural light. Since the settings encouraged swimwear, it is astonishing how beautiful these men, women, and children were. There is a shimmering sensuality about this bygone world. Astonishing, too, is the vibrant intensity of the colors.

They don’t take photographs like this anymore. But we are lucky that Slim Aarons did!

Also available from Slim Aarons:
Slim Aarons: Women
Slim Aarons: Once Upon a Time
Poolside with Slim Aarons
Slim Aarons: La Dolce Vita

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810959354
Publisher:	Abrams
Publication date:	12/01/2005
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 1.25(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Slim Aarons (1916–2006) is now acknowledged as one of the most influential photographers of his generation. During World War II he served as a combat photographer for Yank magazine in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After the war he became a freelance photographer for many magazines including Holiday, Town & Country, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, Look, and Life.

Editorial Reviews

Flipping through the azure, emerald and sun-kissed pages of "golden age" celebrity photographer Aarons's third collection of images, it's hard not to feel a certain nostalgia, even if a backyard wading pool is as close as one ever got to the Cap d'Antibes. For as devotedly as Aarons documented the glamorous lives of the now all-but-vanished jet set-for magazines like Life, Holiday and Town and Country in the '50s, '60s and '70s-he was also witness to a time when the relationship between the "Beautiful People" and the rest of us was mostly one of uncomplicated envy and admiration. Oh, sure, some bitter Trotskyist might have objected to the godlike image of a nonchalant Kirk Douglas water-skiing with his hands on his hips, but many people were happy to gaze upon these photos of dewy poolside heiresses and arcadian Rolls-Royce desert picnics. Aarons himself had been through WWII; is it any wonder, then, that when asked to cover Korea, he replied that "the only beach [he] was interested in landing on was one decorated with beautiful seminude girls tanning in a tranquil sun"? In an age when celebrities have increasingly become the objects of ridicule and disgust, of "inside" gossip and intrusive speculation, Aarons's lushly appointed and tenderly chronicled world looks more attractive than ever. (Dec.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly