Like its predecessors, Once Upon a Time and A Place in the Sun, Poolside with Slim Aarons offers images of jet-setters and the wealthy, of beautiful, glittering people living the glamorous life. Yet this new collection of stunning photographs of the rich and well-connected “doing attractive things” in their favorite playgrounds has a new twist.
The main character is pools and everything that goes with them — magnificent, suntanned bodies; well-oiled skin; bikini-clad women; yachts; summer cocktails; sumptuous buffets; spectacular locations; and most of all: fun. Poolside is not so much a Who’s Who of society, aristocracy, and celebrity — although C. Z. Guest, Lilly Pulitzer, Cheryl Tiegs, Peter Beard and many who have appeared in the previous books are here — as it is about leisure time and how the rich make use of it. This is a more intimate peek into very private lives, to which Slim Aarons was given unprecedented access in the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties.