In 1970, a jet-set photographer by the name of Slim called up a socialite in Palm Springs and said “I want to come over and do a pool shot. Call some friends over.” Slim chance they’d realize then, that history was in the making.

I went to a Modernism Week talk recently at the Annenberg Theatre entitled “Wait Until You See: Slim Aarons x Palm Springs.”  It was given by Shawn Waldron, author of  the new book “Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection.” He also wrote Slim Aarons “Style.”

“Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection” is a colossal and luxurious hard cover book.  One you want to leave on a coffee table or at least keep as part of your important books collection.  Especially if you love fashion, style and all that goes along with it.  The good life, with a capital “G.”

I always say, that aside from the home tours, parties and exhibits going on around Modernism Week; don’t overlook taking in one of the lectures. The informal talks are informative, interesting and significant to the story at hand.  You find out a lot more than you already know.

For starters, I always thought that high society photographer Slim Aarons only took pretty lifestyle photos.  However; we found out that he started off working as a photographer at West Point Military Academy and later as a combat photographer, following and documenting the horrors of World War II across Northern Africa and Europe.

After the war, Slim vowed to walk on the sunnier side of the street, opting to photograph girls not guns, bikinis instead of bombs. Good call.

Last night I went to a cocktail party and book signing at Grace Home Furnishings (Grace is named after the owners’ black lab). The ambience was very inviting at one of the most stylish modern retail and custom design studios I’ve been to. Founded in 2000 by designers Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker; providing furniture, art, photography and more, including in-house personalized interior design services.  I was talking with a woman who was extremely happy with the team who outfitted her home with “everything Grace.” Delicious canapes and cocktails were being passed around courtesy of Jake’s (a restaurant in the uptown design district).

Among the attendees were the two owners; Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker, the author; Shawn Waldron, Designer Trina Turk, and Nelda Linsk; who of course was in the iconic Slim Aarons “Poolside Gossip” which the  photographer shot in 1970 at the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. The photograph has had many reproductions and has since become as much a symbol of modernism as its setting.  You’ll see a print hanging in many homes here and there.  Almost every store in Palm Springs too.

No doubt you’ve seen the photo. Two attractive women sit in lounge chairs beside a teal-blue pool, looking fabulous and moneyed. A third, all legs and carefree attitude, strides toward them with a drink in her hand. In the background is a modern glass-and-stone house and purplish mountains. The landscape is idyllic. The sunlight is hazy and golden. You would live inside the photo if you could.  (this paragraph was taken from The New York Times).

In 1997, Mark Getty, the co-founder of Getty Images, visited Aarons in his home and bought Aarons’ entire archive. In 2017, filmmaker Fritz Mitchell released a documentary about Aarons, called Slim Aarons: The High Life.

Nelda Linsk was a longtime friend of Silm Aarons and owner of the Richard Neutra designed 1946 Kaufmann House. Nelda hosted the impromptu party where along with friends, Helen Dzo Dzo (Kaptur) and Lita Baron, she would become immortalized in the world-famous photo.

The 3,200-square-foot home was once owned by Barry Manilow and Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr.  

Palm Springs’s commitment to its midcentury legacy and architectural flair has allowed it to remain a sought-after vacation home locale well into the 21st century.

Imagine having no idea how celebrated you’d become over the years  by having a cocktail with friends at your home?

Photos: d. king