Lucky For Some
Slim Aarons · 1949
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About this work
Lucky For Some, Sicily 1949
In black and white, men in suits walk away from the camera into a sunny village street between stone houses with wrought-iron balconies. An older man with a walking stick and a hat walks arm in arm with a hatless man. Two boys in short trousers follow behind; the one on the right keeps his hands behind his back. Leaves hang overhead; in the distance the street opens onto hills.
According to the caption, the Sicilian-born gangster Charles 'Lucky' Luciano walked down a street in his native Sicily in 1949, followed by local children mimicking his posture. Slim Aarons photographed the scene from behind. Apart from one boy who looks aside, there are no faces, only backs and postures, and a posture is exactly what the children imitate. The photograph rests on that small imitation, the serious and the childlike in one stride.
- Photographer
- Slim Aarons
- Collection
- Slim Aarons
- Country
- Italy
- Year
- 1949
- Reference
- 3166119
The photographer
Photographing attractive people who were doing attractive things in attractive places.
George Allen Aarons, born in New York, served as a military photographer in World War II and subsequently transitioned to print journalism. Whereas he previously documented the war, he deliberately chose the opposite subject: the leisure time of the rich and famous, in breathtaking settings.
His most famous photograph, The Kings of Hollywood (1957), encapsulates what he sought in all his portraits: glamour, charisma, and celebrity, captured in a relaxed manner.
Aarons won the trust of the people he photographed, thereby gaining access to some of the most intimate and candid portraits of the twentieth century. In 2007, Getty Images published the book Poolside With Slim Aarons , crowning his legacy.
- Born October 29, 1916 , New York
- Died May 29, 2006 , Montrose, NY
- Hulton Archive / Getty Images
