Catherine Wilke

Catherine Wilke joins the topless sunbathers along with Elisabetta Catalano, Charlotte Ticken and Pamela Grupas at the Hotel Punta Tragara on the island of Capri, Italy, in August 1980.

From the collection “Preceding spread Sunbathers, Capri, 1980” Slim Aarons set up this shoot in Italy, and years later he still loved how it turned out. The tight composition, the sunbathing beauties, and his friend and fellow photographer Elisabetta Catalano (in the blue bathing suit). When model Catherine Wilke stepped into the shot, the resulting photo- graph became one of Slim’s most lauded photographs.

Catherine Wilke, from St. Louis, Missouri, was a fashion editor for Harper ́s Bazaar Italia, 1980. She originally came to work in Italy as a fashion model. Here she strikes a magnificent, relaxed pose by the pool at Hotel Punta Tragara, Capri. This historic hotel is perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the iconic Faraglioni rocks, offering breathtaking views.