Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time [Hardcover]

Slim Aarons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

From the end of World War II through the 1980s, Aarons photographed the rich and famous, the beautiful and the celebrated: Hollywood royalty, European aristocracy, the grande dames of high society, captains of industry, media moguls, statesmen and stars of every sort. Though upholding the glamorous image of wealth, power, talent and beauty, he saw himself as a journalist whose duty it was to inform, and this led him to develop the environmental portrait - photographs of his subjects at home, at work, at play and mingling with each other. This type of portrait has influenced a generation of photojournalists whose work can be seen in today's lifestyle magazines. This volume shows Aarons photographs of the international elite in their exclusive playgrounds during the jet-set decades of the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Aarons, erstwhile photographer to the rich and famous, has combed his archives to compile a collection of slick, upscale snapshots that vividly capture the lives of the "polo set." After the violence he witnessed as a combat photographer in WWII¸ Aarons decided that the only beaches he wanted to invade in the future were "decorated with beautiful girls tanning in a tranquil sun"-which are amply presented here. Aarons imparts a nearly tactile quality to these razor-sharp images, and every photograph, from the 1950s through the 1980s, is richly evocative of its era. One 1955 photo captures longtime fashion icon C.Z. Guest poolside in typically modest mid-century swimming attire with her son and dogs. A 1964 spread for Town & Country pictures the deeply tanned "young matrons of Palm Beach" in day-glow floral Lilly Pulitzer dresses. In a 1968 picture, fellow photographer Lord Lichfield is shown on the Italian Riviera wearing groovy yellow pants and flanked by Pucci-clad Italian princesses. Aaron's caption notes that "a photographer's life without a wife" seems to agree with the young cousin to Queen Elizabeth. While much of Aarons' work is focused on "horsey" types, he also turns his lens on creative folks. A dashing Gore Vidal is pictured at his Italian villa, the late Gianni Versace is shown at work in his home on Lake Como and Wanda Horowitz, daughter of Arturo Toscanini, is photographed at her father's podium at La Scala opera house in Milan. Aarons' gossipy captions, which accompany each photograph, help make this striking volume a voyeur's dream. 250 color photographs
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About the Author

Slim Aarons is now acknowledged to be one of the most influential photographers of his generation. Before World War II, he was the official photographer at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, and during the war 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, and Look, and Life. He lives in Bedford, New York. Legendary magazine editor Frank Zachary commissioned many of the photographs in our book for Holiday and Town & Country.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1 edition (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810946033
• ISBN-13: 978-0810946033
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rehash of previous work, January 3, 2006

By 

Country Girl (Long Valley, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time (Hardcover)

I was so disappointed. This book is about 80% material that was previously published in a much classier book, A Wonderful Time. Readers lucky enough to have the earlier book should not waste their money on this rehash.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reveries, February 9, 2006

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time (Hardcover)

ONCE UPON A TIME is an apropos title for this photomontage of a book. Slim Aarons has the enviable job as a photographer of capturing the rich and famous in their haunts around the world. Now that doesn't seem like a worthy topic for a book, especially now that the factions between the rich and not rich are taking a lot of space in the media. But taking this book as a memento of a time lost, a time when leisure meant beautiful places, elegant food and drink and fashion, passages to spas such as Portofino just for the beauty of the views, turning the pages of this book with that state of mind results in some lovely reveries of how things used to be.

Slim Aarons followed the genteel folk around the globe and while his 'portraits' are not the usual stiff and staid formats, his glimpses of people within the environs is unparalleled. For many the views of the scenery, landscapes, seascapes, wondrous architecture, the concert halls, all captured in alluring light, will be the highlight of this volume. The overall feeling of browsing through Aarons' memoir-like photographs is one of traveling back in time, almost with a fairytale like imagery.

For armchair historians, sociologists, and lovers of foreign places this book will satisfy. Though the locales depicted herein still exist (for the most part) they were never as romantically inclined as Aarons makes them. Grady Harp, February 06

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars slim aarons: once upon a time, September 1, 2005

By 

Ann G. Caffrey "anngc" (morro bay, ca, usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time (Hardcover)

Enjoyable reprint which gives a look at the charms, lifestyle, beauties and characters of about a half century ago..looks as if some of the photos from the original edition were not included, but not sure. Aarons is a bold and creative photographer, that's for sure. Thanks.