Bunny Yeager…

Bunny Yeager (March 13, 1929 – May 25, 2014).

Is The Photographer Better Than Her Models?
“The gal who put the stamp of grace and full bodiedness on such favorite pinup models as Joan Rawlings and Maria Stinger is none other than the subject of this layout, photographer Bunny Yeager of Miami. Maybe her charms are more scalding than those of her “pupils” – let’s not compare. Take a glimpse at the contents of this bathing suit for a bit of real feminine appeal.” October 1955, p. 27

Photographs for this layout were taken by Yeager herself. Neat trick and nice work: no model fee, no photographer to deal with as the sun broils. Bunny is married to a man who assists her during his time off. Her age (it says here) is unknown – surely she can’t be much over 18. She originally was a model.” p. 28

(Looks like she went to the Weegee school of photography… From the NY Times: “Ms. Yeager shot frequently in the brilliant South Florida light and used a flash even in the daytime…

Ms. Yeager’s compositions are also memorable for the singular outfits she made for her models out of frugal necessity… Linnea Eleanor Yeager was born on March 13, 1929, in Wilkinsburg, Pa., near Pittsburgh. At 17, she moved with her family to Miami and there, Linnea, a self-described shy young woman, reinvented herself. She adopted the name Bunny from Lana Turner’s character in the 1945 film “Week-End at the Waldorf” and enrolled in modeling school.
Tall, slender and photogenic, Ms. Yeager was soon one of the most sought-after models in the city. She won a string of local beauty pageants, including, The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2011, Queen of Miami, Miss Personality of Miami Beach and Miss Trailer Coach of Dade County.
Ms. Yeager took up photography as a way to economize: Duplicating her portfolio was expensive, and she vowed to learn to make her own prints. Enrolling in a night-school photography class in her early 20s, she sold her idiosyncratic first homework assignment — the model Maria Stinger posed with cheetahs — to the men’s magazine Eye.”

PDF from Andy Warhol Museum’s “Bunny Yeager: The Legendary Queen of the Pin-Up” exhibition is here.)