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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Product Description
Increasingly heralded for his influence, Slim Aarons has established his place in the pantheon of great postwar photographers. It was Aarons who perfected, if not invented, the environmental portrait while photographing the international elite in their exclusive playgrounds during the jet-set decades of the '50s, '60s, and '70s, carrying out his self-described mission: to document "attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places."
This luxurious book is the ultimate insider's view of the lifestyles of the wealthy, privileged, and powerful. Aarons's first book in nearly 30 years (his long-out-of-print A Wonderful Time is a collector's item fetching more than $1,000 a copy) is an eagerly anticipated publishing event. Presenting Hollywood royalty, European aristocracy, the grande dames of high society, captains of industry, media moguls, statesmen, and luminaries of various stripes, across a vast geography of opulent and glamorous settings, Slim Aarons's photographs-some 250 of which are included here-define the Beautiful People and document a lost era of style, grace, and grandeur.

This lavish fourth volume in Abrams' Slim Aarons collection revels in his longtime love affair with Italy. From breathtaking aerials of the Venetian canals and Sicilian countryside to intimate portraits in the villas and estates of celebrities and the beautiful people, Slim's photography captures the essence of the good life of the rich and famous of Italy. Italy undeniably held a special place in Slim's heart. As a photographer for Yank magazine, he witnessed the Italian campaign during World War II and was present at the liberation of Rome. Later, after the war, he abandoned Hollywood to travel to Rome as a photographer for Life magazine. Even after he relocated to New York, he would return to Italy almost every year for the rest of his professional life. His extensive archive documents the aristocracy, high society, celebrity, cultural elite and international jet set that found sanctuary in Italy's most beautiful places. In addition to being his stock and trade, what he called "photographing attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places," these images paint the social and cultural geography of fifty year of Italy, from the Liberation of Rome to the 1990s. The introduction by Christopher Sweet will portray the close friendship between Slim Aarons and Robert Capa that began in Italy, as well as compelling evidence supporting the claim that Slim was the real life photographer on which Jimmy Stewart's character in Hitchock's Rear Window is based.

欧文·佩恩的时装摄影大多是黑白的，而他的静物摄影却对色彩有了更深刻的理解，完全脱离了他时装摄影的固有的调子——时而微妙细腻、时而鲜艳热烈，欧文·佩恩的静物摄影充满了奇妙的风格。
所有以上的这些，只能造就一张完美的照片，而不是一幅“杰作”。欧文·佩恩的作品之所以被称为“杰作”，是这些看似简单的作品中，表现出对现实生活的讽刺与隐喻。