Travelling back from Italy by train many years ago 5 girls joined me in the compartment with 6 seats. They promptly opened a bottle of white wine and announced they were going to ‘Arnhem’.
‘What’s in Arnhem?’ I blurted out, knowing nothing more than that it is currently the only city in the Netherlands that uses trolley buses for public transport and that I once cycled through it on my way to my grandma.
Little did I know I would live there one day. My wife and I moved into our flat on the Monnikensteeg (Monk’s alley) last year. Upon exploring the city we soon found Spyk71 to be a sublime home design store filled with mouthwatering articles from decorative woollen plants to customisable cupboards. We spent a good amount of time roaming in there.
While Nicolien was finally on her way out she looked back and I was gone, left behind, mesmerised, somewhere deep in the store in front of a photograph of 1 x 1,5 meters. It was by some unknown photographer and cost a monthly salary (of mine).
Weeks later I still remembered the scene of the photo vividly although I had forgotten the name of the photographer. I started looking on the internet for it. Turns out it was Poolside Gossip by Slim Aarons, a society photographer who worked during the second half of the 20th century. His archive has been sold to Getty Images where you can buy digital files of his (apparently famous) photographs. Never heard of the guy.
When I went back to Spyk71 I went straight for the photograph and looked at the sign next to it. It was correctly attributed to Slim Aarons. The nice salesperson informed me they resell it for a ‘gallery’ who bought the rights. There are many galleries who bought the rights to some of Slim Aarons work and make money printing his photographs in various formats. Some offer limited editions, but since anyone can buy the rights to a Slim Aarons image from Getty and have it printed how they like I don’t know what’s ‘limited’ about those editions. Maybe only the stamp on the back.
I already knew from my search that Slim Aarons made a whole series of photographs in january 1970 during a party at the Desert House in Palm Springs, of which Poolside Gossip is probably the most popular. What attracted me at first was the general mood, the sublime light, the clothing and hairdos, the bungalow-style villa, the mountains in the background, the crystal clear pool water. What made it stand out on second sight was the expressions and posture of all the people, one can even be seen squatting on the grass. On third sight, and the reason Nicolien lost me in the store: there are so many details!
In the series there is one frame shot slightly after Poolside Gossip, called Catch Up By The Pool, that caught my attention. To the right a little dog appears. Is that the reason for the person squatting? Also Lita Baron (left holding glass) advanced a bit thereby fitting better into the scene, not seemingly standing on the head of Dzo Dzo Kaptur. This photograph I had to get for our living room, it would go well on the wall we just painted yellow I thought.
Usually I am not a fan of event photography, even when it documents a lifestyle I would otherwise be ignorant about for it being too far away, in place, time or money. Such photographs rarely surpass the anecdotical. This lifestyle, the associated ‘stuff’, specific famous persons or the tell-tale signs of a certain epoch are, even though attention grabbing and sometimes even holding, generally too shallow to convey anything but themselves, let alone a deeper meaning or understanding. This makes them uninteresting in the long run for me. Most of Slim Aarons’ work falls into that category I’m afraid. Entertaining, but ultimately lacking.
This particular poolside event though, that was more near to me in time than in money I’m afraid, features some specifics I have been a long time fan of. We will see if this is enough for Catch Up By The Pool to stand the test of time for me.
- Well dressed people (I aspire to be well dressed myself once).
- Leisure: another aspiration of mine is being able to chillax.
- Bungalow style homes that fit well into the landscape.
- Mountains!
- Did I mention my favourite colour is yellow?
After we finished the wine, the 5 girls moved to another compartment with beds, and I got company from a new group of youngsters. Tried to read War and peace on that journey. Stopped at page 1165, never picked it up again… I hope the girls had fun in Arnhem, we are just now discovering this city.
Ahh Palm Springs! Little known fact is that certain elements of the Palm Springs lower class dress themselves in genuine C&A and MEXX clothing these days. I guess they felt the need to be well dressed people too and, unable to purchase said clothing reverted to ‘more unconventional’ ways of obtaining their desired items of class.
I do like this series of photographs and ‘catch up by the pool’ looks great on your wall!
Well, these more unconventional ways seem attractive sometimes. Such as when you like a photograph from an estate of a, in some circles, well-known photographer that has been sold to a private-equity-firm owned money driven machine such as Getty.
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