Happy Birthday, Slim Aarons! Celebrating the Photographer of the Good Life

Slim Aarons was born George Allen Aarons on October 29, 1916, in New York City. For more than fifty years he photographed society figures, film stars and the places they went to relax, and his work ran in Life, Holiday and Town & Country. He summed up his career as photographing "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places." Today his pictures of pools, beaches and villas are some of the most recognized images of mid-century leisure, and they remain a favorite of collectors and interior designers.

Before he photographed the jet set, Aarons photographed war. He joined the U.S. Army at 18, became the official photographer at West Point, and served as a combat photographer for Yank magazine in World War II, covering campaigns from North Africa to Europe and earning a Purple Heart. After the war he went to Hollywood, where in 1957 he made Kings of Hollywood, the New Year's Eve photograph of Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and James Stewart in black tie at the bar. When Life opened a bureau in Rome, he moved there and began the work he is best known for.

Aarons never used a stylist or a makeup artist. He was welcomed into private homes in Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Gstaad, Capri and the Amalfi Coast as a guest, and his photographs have the ease of family snapshots taken by a very good photographer. In 1997 Mark Getty bought his complete archive, which is now held by Getty Images in London. The Darkroom Society is an authorized Getty Images Gallery partner, and our Slim Aarons prints are made from that original archive.

To mark his birthday, we are offering 20% off all Slim Aarons Limited Edition Estate Stamped Prints. Use code HAPPYSLIM20 at checkout. The discount applies only to Limited Edition Estate Stamped Prints. Sale dates: Oct 24 - November 1, 2026. Browse the Slim Aarons collection to find the print that brings a little of his good life to your walls.