The name Slim Aarons might elicit memories of a photography book you once saw decorating a trendy friend's coffee table, the lyrics to a Lana Del Rey song or a dreamy canvas displaying tanned limbs and glistening blue water mounted on the wall of a hotel room.
But the truth is, not all that much is publicly known about Aarons.
Like most artists, he was never the subject of his work, only the keen eye behind an iconic genre of photography that captured the true glamor and luxury of high society in the 1950s-1990s.
Famous for snapping pictures of the rich, famous and simply beautiful, Aarons would travel with his mesmerizing muses and socialite subjects throughout the seasons as they vacationed across the Alps and Mediterranean.
Getty curator and 'Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection' author Shawn Waldron told the Daily Mail that the photographer's success came down to his undeniable charm.
'He just fell in to the right circles in Hollywood, and became friendly with a lot of the actors and actresses. Hollywood directors loved him. He was just an incredibly charming down-to-Earth person,' Waldron said.
He made his career out of what he called 'photographing attractive people, doing attractive things, in attractive places'.
These attractive people included Hollywood stars, European royalty, models, socialites and American politicians.
The photographer's success came down to his undeniable charm.
Aarons's picture of actors Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and James Stewart - titled Kings of Hollywood - remains notorious to this day.
He captured a premium shot of Marilyn Monroe in her prime, posing in a silk red negligee with black lace trim, sitting on a couch sorting her fan mail in 1952.
A photo he snapped of Jackie Kennedy at the 1957 April in Paris Ball is still one of the most commonly circulated pictures of the former-First Lady.
Aarons also pictured her four years earlier alongside American diplomat Michael Canfield at Newport Casino Tennis Week in Rhode Island, and again at a 1959 White House reception.
It's fair to say the photographer certainly had friends in high places, and they took him far and wide.
His pictures of summer vacations have become the pinnacle of what people aspire to for their 'euro summers'.
He was 'living his best life' before the phrase even existed.
But Aarons's life was not always sunshine and sports cars.
Aarons's picture of actors Clark Gable, Van Heflin, Gary Cooper and James Stewart - titled Kings of Hollywood - remains notorious to this day
He captured a premium shot of Marilyn Monroe in her prime, posing in a silk red negligee with black lace trim, sitting on a couch sorting her fan mail in 1952
A photo he snapped of Jackie Kennedy at the 1957 April in Paris Ball is still one of the most commonly circulated pictures of the former-First Lady
Aarons pictured Jackie Kennedy four years earlier alongside American diplomat Michael Canfield at Newport Casino Tennis Week in Rhode Island
Born George Allen Aarons on October 29, 1916, the famous photographer had Yiddish-speaking immigrants who lived in a tenement on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
His mother was diagnosed with mental health issues and admitted to a psychiatric hospital when he was a young boy, which caused him to be passed around relatives.
He resented and had no relationship with his father and his brother Harry died by suicide, according to a 2016 documentary about his life, Slim Aarons: The High Life.
However, Aarons's life took a turn at 18 when he enlisted in the US Army.
He went on to work as a photographer at the US Military Academy, and then as a combat photographer during World War II - which earned him a Purple Heart.
After the war, the subject of Aarons's photography pivoted significantly from battlegrounds to beaches.
'I think his story is kind of a classic American story,' Waldron said. 'He went into the war as George Aarons, and came out as Slim Aarons, famous photographer.'
'It feels almost like Gatsby, or Don Draper,' Waldron continued.
His pictures of summer vacations have become the pinnacle of what people aspire to for their 'euro summers'. He was 'living his best life' before the phrase even existed.
The attractive people Slim Aarons photographed included Hollywood stars, European royalty, models, socialites and American politicians.
It's fair to say the photographer certainly had friends in high places, and they took him far and wide.
He moved to California and began photographing celebrities.
'They would invite me to one of their parties, because they knew I wouldn't hurt them. I was one of them.'
Waldron said Aarons's secret was that he didn't make his subjects look bad.
The lens of his camera saw pools and parties, beaches and boats, mountains and mansions.
His playgrounds were dotted across the globe in the most aesthetically gorgeous places: Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, Cannes, Haiti and The Bahamas.
'Slim was an anthropologist with his camera,' says photographer Douglas Friedman.
'He documented an entire era.'
One of his most famous shots was taken of American socialite CZ Guest with a large Great Dane dog in 1955 at her Grecian temple pool on the ocean-front estate,Villa Artemis,in Palm Beach.
After the war,the subject of Aarons's photography pivoted significantly from battlegrounds to beaches.
The lens of his camera saw pools and parties,b beaches and boats,mountains and mansions.
Many of his photographs were set at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes,where he captured vacationers sipping champagne in swimsuits,w waterskiing and sunbathing on boats.
His pictures filled glossy pages of the time's most popular magazines - Life,H Holiday,T Town & Country,and Travel + Leisure,and Vanity Fair.
The reason he fit in so seamlessly with the elite is because he didn't make a fuss.
There were no stylists or makeup artists;he lugged his own camera equipment around;and most of the time he didn't have an assistant.
He didn't rely on flash and strobe equipment;‘I prefer available light,’he said.
Aarons would arrive early for his shoots and stay until martini time.
For this reason,his midday shots captured the brightness and saturation of peak sunlight;his sunset shots captured the same scene in the enchanting hue of golden hour.
Because he assimilated into the daily routines of his high-society subjects,he earned their trust and was invited in to their most intimate settings - bedrooms,backyards,boats and more.
His playgrounds were dotted across the globe in the most aesthetically gorgeous places:Beverly Hills,Palm Beach,Cannes,Haiti and The Bahamas.
The reason he fit in so seamlessly with the elite is because he didn't make a fuss.There were no stylists or makeup artists;he lugged his own camera equipment around;and most of the time he didn't have an assistant.
Because he assimilated into the daily routines of his high-society subjects,he earned their trust and was invited in to their most intimate settings - bedrooms,backyards,boats and more.
His wife Rita was one of his many muses,and when he needed a splash of glamor in the shot she would jump in the background wearing a bright red bathing suit.
'He was very straightforward in his pictures,'Waldron said.'If you look at them,there's no stylist,no makeup artists.
He was mostly shooting people in their own homes,in their own clothes,driving their own cars or at their own clubs.'
His wife Rita was one of his many muses,and when he needed a splash of glamor in the shot she would jump in the background wearing a bright red bathing suit.
Rita was the subject of one of his most famous photos.
The picture,taken in the Winter of 1954,captures Rita relaxing on a lounger in a sprawling pall,floating amidst festive ornaments next to a Christmas tree towering over the pool.
Rita died in 2023,aged 92 - 17 years after Aarons passed away due to complications of a heart attack and a stroke,according to their daughter Mary Aarons.
When asked about her father's legacy,Mary said that when she looks at his photographs,she can't believe they're not contemporary.
'Which came first,the chicken or the egg? Is contemporary fashion modeled after him or is it just a matter of fact that the fashion and looks in his photos look contemporary,'she told Palm Beach's Palmer.
'People love that easygoing,care-free,endless summer...the good life.That's what people are trying to capture and recreate,'Waldron said.
Getty acquired Aarons's entire archive in 1997,while the photographer was still alive.Aarons died in 2006 aged 89.
He struck a deal with Mark Getty just two years after the company was founded,and almost two decades later,Waldron is still plowing through Aaron's iconic collection.