
Slim Aarons
Beach Picnic, 1960

West Coast magazine publisher Jack Vietor picnicking on the rocks below his home in southern …

Slim Aarons's photographs offer a glimpse into the lives of the American jet-set in the post-war era. Aarons photographed the rich and beautiful in palatial Malibu mansions, at society events, and on lush European beaches, winning the trust of celebrities and capturing the likes of Gary Cooper, Mick Jagger, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in private moments. His oeuvre evokes the glamour and grace of midcentury America, depicting what he often said were “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” Aarons stopped working in the years leading up to his death, as he was displeased with the trends of magazine journalism that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s. His body of work represents an essential and iconic time-capsule of a bygone era.


West Coast magazine publisher Jack Vietor picnicking on the rocks below his home in southern California. A Wonderful Time - Slim Aarons.
In speaking to people who have known John Vietor for at least two decades, I am told that he is “the Jello heir,” ‘"the founder of San Diego Magazine,” “a world traveler who …

Slim Aarons's photographs offer a glimpse into the lives of the American jet-set in the post-war era. Aarons photographed the rich and beautiful in palatial Malibu mansions, at society events, and on lush European beaches, winning the trust of celebrities and capturing the likes of Gary Cooper, Mick Jagger, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in private moments. His oeuvre evokes the glamour and grace of midcentury America, depicting what he often said were “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places.” Aarons stopped working in the years leading up to his death, as he was displeased with the trends of magazine journalism that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s. His body of work represents an essential and iconic time-capsule of a bygone era.