Bunny Yeager

Linnea Eleanor "Bunny" Yeager (March 13, 1929 – May 25, 2014) was an American photographer and pin-up model.

Born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., Yeager became one of the most photographed models in Miami. After retiring from modeling, she began her career behind the camera. She met Bettie Page in 1954, and took most of the photographs of her that year. Along with photographer Irving Klaw, Yeager played a role in helping to make Page famous, particularly with her photos in Playboy magazine.Yeager is also credited with discovering the model Lisa Winters. Following Page's retirement, Yeager remained a successful photographer. She took the well-known still images of Ursula Andress on the beach in the 1962 James Bond film Dr. No, and discovered many other notable models. In 1968 she played the role of a Swedish masseuse opposite Frank Sinatra in Lady In Cement.

Yeager was played by Sarah Paulson in the 2005 film The Notorious Bettie Page. She was also featured on a CNN story about the 60th anniversary of the bikini. In the 1950s Mrs. Yeager appeared on What's My Line, stumping the panel.

In 2005, Cult Epics released the DVD 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager, a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage on Yeager's photo sessions with Page and other pin-up models.

In early 2010, the Warhol Museum held the first exhibition of Yeager's work. Most of the photographs in the exhibit came from Bunny's book "How I Photograph Myself" published by A.S. Barnes & Co. in 1964.

In 2011, the Schuster Gallery (Berlin/Miami) became the official representative of the photographic artwork of Yeager.

In November 2011, the Dezer Schauhalle in Miami, FL hosted a retrospective exhibition of Yeager's work. Included were some never before seen photos of various models including Bettie Page.

There is a temporary exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Art Museum featuring her photographs of herself, Page, and model Paz de la Huerta, until October 6, 2013. The show placed Yeager's work in the context of artists she influenced like Cindy Sherman and Diane Arbus and was curated by Peter Boswell.

Yeager had a show at the Sofia Vault in the Bulgarian Capital in October 2013. She was also added to the list of artists represented by Gavlak Gallery in Palm Beach, FL. She had her own studio gallery in the art district of Miami (bunnyyeagerstudio.com), part of the Center for Visual Communication. She died in 2014 of congestive heart failure.

Books

• 100 Girls by Bunny Yeager. A.S.Barnes, 1965
• How I photograph Myself by Bunny Yeager. NY A.S. Barnes 1964
• How I Photograph Nudes by Bunny Yeager. NY A. S. Barnes 1963
• Camera in the Caribbean by Bunny Yeager. Louisville, Whitestone Pubs: 1965
• Bunny Yeager's New Photo Discoveries by Bunny Yeager
• A B C's of Figure Photography by Bunny Yeager
• How to Photograph the Figure by Bunny Yeager. Louisville, Whitestone: 1963
• How to Take Figure Photos by Bunny Yeager. Louisville, Whitestone: 1962
• Bunny Yeager's Photo Studies by Bunny Yeager. . Louisville, Whitestone: 1960 [Also 1963, abridged]
• Photographing the Female Figure by Bunny Yeager. Greenwich, Fawcett: 1957
• The Art of Glamour Photography by Bunny Yeager. Amphoto: 1962
• Drawing the Human Figure using Photographs by Bunny Yeager. NY, A.S. Barnes: 1965
• Camera in Jamaica by Bunny Yeager, A. S. Barnes & Company, South Brunswick: (1967)
• Bettie Page Confidential, St. Martin's Press (1994) ISBN 0-312-10940-7
• Bunny Yeager's Bikini Girls of the 1950s, Schiffer Publishing (2004) ISBN 0-7643-2002-5
• Bunny Yeager's Flirts of the Fifties, Schiffer Publishing (2007) ISBN 0-7643-2637-6
• Bunny Yeager's Darkroom: Pin-up Photography's Golden Era, by Petra Mason (Author), Dita Von Teese (Introduction) (2012)