Aarons was able to capture these charismatic tastemakers in the most glamorous of settings, but his pictures had a sense of ease about them, most likely because of his very own larger-than-life personality. As Slim’s longtime friend and editor Frank Zachary observed, ‘Slim managed to get the horse to raise his hoof. And those 10 days always broke down the same way: we’d go out looking for exteriors, do pick-up shots and informal portraits at resorts or luncheons and then set up the big shoot in the house. The tree is inexplicably anchored to the bottom of the pool, and at the highest point of the tree is a Christmas star, glinting in the California sun. Photos of socialite ladies sitting by the pool in Palm Springs and sunbathing on Greek islands abound in the latest Slim Aarons compilation, Women, written by Aarons’s former assistant Laura Hawk.

Slim Aarons, Women by Slim Aarons | 9781419722424 | Booktopia Slim Aarons, Women by Slim Aarons | 9781419722424 | Booktopia

Bidding the world farewell in a VA hospital—after observing one last Memorial Day—was entirely fitting. Capturing a golden era of the international jet-set, American photographer Slim Aarons, who died 17 years ago today, is remembered for his poppy, vibrant images that embody the beauty of affluence – both in who he photographed and where he photographed them. If you look at a beach scene or a pool scene, and there’s somebody in a red bathing suit who has their back to you, that’s probably her—there to add color. The collection contains more than 200 images, the majority of which have not appeared in previous books, along with detailed captions written by one of Slim's closest colleagues.As to what caught his eye and what he would deem worthy subject matter, Slim famously said it best himself: “Attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places. Even as war zones continued to beckon his pals from Life (such as Robert Capa, David Douglas Duncan, and Carl Mydans), Slim turned his lens on the playgrounds of Gstaad and Mallorca, Bali and Beverly Hills.

Slim Aarons: Women by Laura Hawk | Goodreads Slim Aarons: Women by Laura Hawk | Goodreads

Breaking his silence four decades after ghostwriting the book, Wayne Lawson sets the record straight about who did what to whom. The collection contains more than 200 images, the majority of which have not appeared in previous books, along with detailed captions written by one of Aarons's closest colleagues. These are the exceptions, however; throughout, Aarons’s portraits attest wholeheartedly to his intention to make the good life look even better, while also telling us as much about the person behind the camera as the people in front. A lot of people who were photographers in the war, either army photographers or war correspondents … just kind of stuck with it. Also available from Slim Aarons: Poolside with Slim Aarons, Slim Aarons: Once Upon a Time, Slim Aarons: A Place in the Sun, and Slim Aarons: La Dolce Vita.He would say over and over, ‘I only use real people in their own clothes, in their own jewelry, and they become fashion.