Rare, newly seen photographs capture decades worth of Slim Aarons’ work which includes beautiful people posing and lounging around in aesthetically pleasing places.
In a FOTO collection published this week, spectators are taken back in time between the period of 1957 and 1980 to exotic beaches and resorts around the world.
Photographer Aarons, who passed away in 2006, began working as a socialite and celebrity photographer in California in The Fifties.
A guest is seen taking a break from the heat while at the Marbella Club in Marbella, Spain in this 1976 photo by photographer Slim Aarons
Pool-goers relax by the water of the Marbella Club in Marbella, Spain in August 1980
Marietine Birnie is seen snorkeling at the Blue Lagoon, Kemmuna (Comina) in Malta in July 1959
This followed his time employed as a World War II combat photographer, which he chronicled about in his writings.
Aarons, before long, took on globetrotting. His work was later published in magazines like Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Life, to name a few.
He once said his sole concentration was ‘photographing attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places.’
The US Army veteran even turned down offers to photograph devastation during the Korean War.
Sarah Marson Williams enjoys a cocktail on the beach at the Hilton Hotel, Needhams Point, in Barbados in April 1976
A woman sits at the edge of a swimming pool in Kenya in December 1958
A group of friends are shown enjoying a day sailing in Lyford Cay, Bahamas in April 1966
A unidentified woman stands in a garden wearing a strapless blue dress in front of a house in Bermuda in 1957
A group of people are seen snorkelling off a small boat in Malta in this 1959 photo by Slim Aarons
According to Vanity Fair, and he replied to the offer: ‘I’ll only do a beach if it has a blonde on it.’
It seems the decision panned out well for the artist – whose work today is still up for sale on online auctions for several thousands of dollars.
In an interview with Vanity Fair three years before he passed, Aarons spoke about one of his most inspirational photo albums in the fashion world, A Wonderful Time.
US Sergeant Slim Aarons holding a short guide pamphlet about London, England in 1942
Aarons attends the Klauer family celebrates the marriage of Kristina Stewart and Arthur Ward at Private Residence on June 16, 2005 in New York City
The album, which captured the ‘rich at play’ and released in 1974, is still used as ‘essential inspiration for top designers, art directors, and interior decorators,’ according to the magazine.
And copies of the album alone go for up to $2,000.
While speaking of the book, Aarons said: ‘I can’t figure out why people love it so much.’
Meanwhile, Designer Anna Sui deemed it ‘the quintessential guide for good taste.’