After witnessing the gore and despair of WWII, the former combat photographer Slim Aarons decided he wasn't going to train his lens on anything other than "attractive people in attractive places doing attractive things." Once Upon A Time is a compilation of the international elite at captured at their jet-setting best. C.Z. Guest (the photo of Guest on the cover of Wasp: A Privileged Life is his), Gianni Versace, Gore Vidal, Jackie Kennedy, Cecil Beaton...
...Aarons' portfolio reads like a veritable compendium of later 20th century power players, and that his photos are accompanied by wry, slightly gossipy commentary is just the whipped cream on a slice of history. Bitsy bought the softcover so she could bring it to the beach and read it in her hammock with a bowl of cherries, but you might want to consider the hardcover, which has excellent coffee table potential.
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