Under The Sun

Podcast: Download

By Clotilde Luce and Trina Sargalski

Bettie Page and Bunny Yeager at the Africa U.S.A. theme park. (Photo courtesy of Bunny Yeager)

Whether we like it or not, South Florida is known for sun, beaches…and skin.   Back in the 1950s, pin-up model Bettie Page posed for some of her most classic photos here. Her black bangs, red lips and playful gaze were a hit in the pages of Playboy.  These images were created by local model turned photographer Bunny Yeager.  Clotilde Luce reported on the woman behind these icons of 1950s fashion and photography and her recent discovery by the art world.

You might not have noticed it, but there’s quite a bit of tropical foliage in the background of Bunny Yeager’s photos.  Yeager liked accenting the sensuality of her models with beaches, mangroves and tropical plants.  One of her most well-known photo shoots was staged at the old Africa U.S.A. theme park in Boca Raton.  Page posed with cheetahs in a leopard print bathing suit Yeager had originally designed for herself.

Bettie Page wears a swimsuit designed by Bunny Yeager at the old Africa U.S.A. theme park in Boca Raton. This photo is on display at Dezer Schauhalle gallery. (Photo courtesy of Bunny Yeager.)

Yeager ended up having Page wear it: “I was going to pose at Africa U.S.A.—that was my dream.  I realized—fortunately– there was no way I could take pictures of myself with a camera on a tripod with all these wild animals running all around me. I think I probably shot from the Jeep—I can’t remember getting out in the herd of animals. I wasn’t in a hurry to stay out there. But, Bettie wasn’t afraid! She was just fine.”

The songs you heard in this piece were “Dreamland” and “Adventures in Tourism” by The Gold Dust Lounge, a Miami band that describes their music as “ambient rock, spy-fi, and exotica surf rock.”

Bunny Yeager poses for a self-portrait. (On display at Dezer Schauhalle. Photo courtesy of Bunny Yeager.)

Bettie Page at a private home in Coral Gables. Photos from this series are on display at Miami Beach Cinematheque. (Photo courtesy of Bunny Yeager.)

Where to see Bunny Yeager’s work:

Bettie Page: Miami Noir

Tonight (12/1/11) is the opening night celebration with free admission and complimentary champagne from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  The exhibition continues throughout December and January before all film screenings.

It focuses on some of Yeager’s photos of Bettie Page, many which have never been exhibited or published before.  Most were shot in a private home in Coral Gables.  The exhibition is in collaboration with Dezer Schauhalle and the Schuster Gallery Berlin.

Miami Beach Cinematheque

at Historic City Hall

1130 Washington Ave

Miami Beach 33139

Bunny Yeager “Retrospective to the Future”

Curator Helmut Schuster chose 220 Bunny Yeager photos from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.   Many of the photos have been previously unseen.  Photos in the retrospective include self-portraits, as well as unseen Bettie Page photos. The exhibition runs through February 2012.

Dezer Schauhalle

2000 NE 146^th Street

North Miami, FL  33181