Bunny Yeager was as much at home behind the camera as she was in
front of it. She started out in Miami in the late 1940's/early 1950's as
a
model,
winning numerous beauty contests - as word got out about her beauty,
she became one of the most photographed young women in Florida.
In
the early '50's, she started on her photography career, and it was
then, in 1954, she met Bettie Page. Her celebratory photos of Miss Page
became famous, most notably with Page and her cheetahs, and she wound up
taking over a thousand photos of the famous pin-up model.
She
began taking photos for the then-new magazine Playboy, discovering its
first Playmate of the Year (1957). Yeager's photos of Ursula Andress
emerging from the sea, from 1962's 'Dr. No', are probably her most
famous bikini photos. Throughout the '60's and '70's, Yeager branched
out, taking photos for more mainstream mags like Cosmopolitan, Esquire,
Pageant and Redbook.
Yeager's first major
photographic exhibit was at the Andy Warhol Museum in 2010, and after
that, she had many other exhibits showing her work. She is praised for
being a photographer of note: Diane Arbus called her "the world's most
famous pin-up photographer".
She was
responsible for spreading the wearing of the bikini, and even credited
for creating the word "cheesecake" in reference to the models.
Bunny Yeager died in Miami in 2014 at age 85.
PHOTOS -
L: Selfie by Miss Yeager, 1950’s (note the shutter cord on her left toe).
R top: Ms. Yeager on left, readying a photo shoot for Bettie Page with her cheetahs, early 1950's.
R bottom: Ms. Yeager's famous photo of Ursula Andress emerging from the water, from 1962's James Bond movie, "Dr. No".
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