SLIM AARONS (1916 – 2006)
Throughout the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's Slim Aarons photographed beautiful people in an atmosphere of luxury and decadence and is regarded as one of the most influential photographers of his generation. Aarons brought a photojournalist's eye to the art of formal society portraiture. He often posed his subjects as still lifes in their own magnificent surroundings.
Aarons was born in 1916 to Jewish parents and was raised in Manhattan's Lower East Side. He joined the Army at the age of eighteen hoping that he might see the world. During World War II he served as a photographer within the Eighth Army Division while working for Yank magazine. After Aarons was honorably discharged, he was asked to continue his work as a war photographer but he declined the offer.
As an affable and stylish young man, Aarons found magazine work with Town and Country, Holiday, LIFE and Travel and Leisure. Through editorial work Aarons gained access to the world's most elite and exclusive playgrounds, and within these social circles he found a world of opulence far from the war he left behind.
In 1974 Slim Aaron's book A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of The Good Life was published. The book became and remains a cult favorite in the fashion world. Following his first gallery exhibition at Staley-Wise Gallery in 2003, several additional books of his work were published, including Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time, Slim Aarons: A Place in the Sun, Poolside with Slim Aarons, and Slim Aarons: La Dolce Vita.
Slim Aarons died in 2006 at the age of 89. He will be remembered for his portraits of celebrities, politicians, and socialites but most importantly for his desire to photograph “attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places."
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Slim Aarons: La Dolce Vita (Harry N. Abrams, 2012)
Poolside with Slim Aarons (Harry N. Abrams, 2007)
Slim Aarons: A Place in the Sun (Harry N. Abrams, 2005)
Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time (Harry N. Abrams, 2003)
A Wonderful Time: An Intimate Portrait of The Good Life (Harper & Row, 1974)
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2016 Slim Aarons: Photographer (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
2014 Slim Aarons: A Man for All Seasons (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
2004 Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2013 It’s An American Thing (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
2011 Social History: The Jet Set (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
2010 The Big Picture (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
2009 America The Beautiful (Staley-Wise Gallery, New York)
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 Getty Images Gallery, London.
Staley-Wise Gallery also offers prints signed by Slim Aarons.