Rich & Slim
Slim Aarons’ (1916-2006) photographs indulge my darkest, most superficial desires to become filthy stinking rich.
I want to have some sort of affair where I’m required to wear a Rich Uncle Pennybags Top Hat while carrying around a conductor’s wand.
I want to have a summer wardrobe and be able to pull off yellow pants while relaxing by the most perfect pool in the universe on a Wednesday. Don’t lift a finger, my butler will serve refreshing beverages.
Why yes, I’d love a schnapps break at a Swiss Alps Summit. Splendid!
…and most of all, I want Truman Capote to design my apartment. So, SO ill!
Analyzing his pictures, I get the feeling that his subjects were more indulged IN themselves than with life; hoping to parade about a facade of an identity through Slim’s lens…as if their lives are really this perfect every other second of the day. Extravagant, no doubt. But as lavish as these portraits are, it’s transparent how symbiotic Slim’s relationships were with his subjects. There is nothing candid about these photos.
See, now It becomes a bummer (and a bore) to think about the egos of the wealthy and famous. I just want to take it easy by that pool in my top hat.
- Cornbluth
August 28th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
These pictures are generally rock, but what’s the first picture from? Are these all from some sort of collected work? I’ve never heard of this photographer – or to be fair, many photographers at all – but I’m diggin’ on them.
I dig the analysis, and for real, there’s no candid nature to these pictures. Though I know when I’m impersonating Truman, I generally open a book and gaze meaningfully into the distance.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Caffeine, the first pic is a Slim Aarons photo too, doye. I’m sure he has plenty of books and collected volumes of his work out there. There’s one called “A Wonderful Time” that is out of print and on my most wanted lists.
http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Time-Intimate-Portrait-Good/dp/0060100168
August 28th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Hahaha, no no, I knew it was his. Christ, I hope I don’t come off that retarded. (I probably do.) I mean who/what was it of?
And thanks for the link, I’m dig these pics.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I dunno, some pool party in Los Angeles I think.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
think that was the mishka pool party last summer.