Bunny Yeager Lovely Lass with Lens 36-25-37 Heroes of Photography #1

Linnea Eleanor "Bunny" Yeager is a pioneer woman photographer whose work you know but don't. Those in the art world may be tempted by pass her by as she worked in the pin-up business. That's right, a woman taking pictures of women for men...and in the 1950s no less. Yeager took some shots of a personal, patronizing kind as well: she was named "Prettiest Photographer in the World" by US Camera Magazine in 1953. (With competition from fellows like Weegee, I'm not quite sure how much of an honor this is) Likely the only professional photographer who has had her measurements reported by Celebrity Sleuth, she was also named one of the top ten women "Photographers of the Year" in 1959 by the Professional Photographers of America and has lived long enough to see her work exhibited in a retrospective at the Andy Warhol Museum last year.

Not only did Bunny photograph pin-ups for Playboy (and countless other men's magazines) she was a model herself. Born in Pennsylvania, Bunny moved to Florida and soon became one of the most in-demand models on the beach. No less than Joltin' Joe Di Maggio, himself a fine judge of female talent, crowned her "Miami Sports Queen" in 1949. But Bunny had artistic aims and brains along with her beauty and began taking pictures of her fellow models, many of whom posed for free to help her out. She reportedly had an additional advantage...some of the more modest models had no difficulty shedding ALL their clothes for a woman, and much of her early work was nudes rather than the "nearly nudes." made by her male competition. Her empathy and collaboration with the models helped her create stupendous glamor. One of her first works became a cover for Eye Magazine. A few years later she photographed vacationing Bettie Page and sent the pictures to Hugh Hefner. One became the centerfold and Bettie became Playmate of the Month in January 1955. She later took the famous beach photos of Ursula Andress used for the James Bond film Dr. No. She liked Hollywood...much of her work was for the industry even if her credits read like a "B Movie" festival. Bunny is still doing still work from what I can tell.
by Jim Linderman

Uncredited Photographs published in "Scamp" magazine 1957

VISTASCREEN! From the Littered Landscape of Photographica

The landscape is littered with camera technology failures. Something about capturing an image brought out the inventors, and today there is even a collector category known as photographica. They collect camera detritus. There is no shortage.

Competing technologies drive the market and pictures of pretty woman drive men. Thus, the Vistascreen! An enterprising gent named Stanley Long in the UK decided to get into the three dimensional photographic business in 1956. View-master was up and running, but unlike Long...they were short on babes. The only thing better than a beautiful woman is one who is poking her whatnots out at you, so capturing a babe in 3-D has always equaled the moon shot as a noble goal for man. (Having just been to the Grammy awards and suffering a headache along with the rest of the well-heeled audience during the Michael Jackson "extravaganza" I can tell you not only has 3-D not progressed far, it certainly is NOT going to save Hollywood. 30 seconds into the flick, the stars were taking off their glasses to see what Celine Dion was wearing) But I digress.

Vitascreen faded with time and the Glamour shots Stanley took and sold faded as well. Today they are collector items...and guess what? REPRINTED. Modern re-issues of Stanley Long's Lifelike British Babes are available again, but the link doesn't work. I'll try to post it later

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Amateur Vernacular Photograph circa 1955 Collection Jim Linderman

Untitled Nudes by Rudolph Rossi Hand-Painted Photograph c. 1950

Three large (11" x 14") Original Hand-tinted Photographs by Rudolph Rossi circa 1950. Rossi was a member of an informal camera club in New York City where he took photographs of Bettie Page and other amateur models, then meticulously painted each black and white photograph by hand to create the illusion of color photography.  The models for the camera club shootings (including Bettie Page) were found from all over New York City.  While the three models here are all seemingly posing alone, it is possible Rossi "painted out" other participants after making large prints in his home studio.  
Note gold tint he applied to the jewelry on the blond!  
Three original prints by Rudolph Rossi, circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman