'Something to Hold'

Mimi Craven's book helps raise funds for AIDS research

Advertisement

Mimi Craven has been a dance teacher, a flight attendant, an actress and a photographer. Now she can add publishing to her credits.

She and actress Sharon Stone collaborated on a book called "Something to Hold." The book features Craven's black and white photographs of angelic statuary found in various cemeteries. Stone wrote prose to accompany each picture, which appears in her own handwriting for a more personal touch.

All proceeds from the book benefit amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.

Craven has an interesting resume. Among her film and TV credits are "Last Dance," which starred Stone, and "Just Write," which starred Sherilyn Fenn. She also was cast in guest roles on television shows such as "Seinfeld" and "Star Trek Voyager."

She also was cast in "Dogwatch," which led to meeting its star, Sam Elliot.

"I adore him," she said. "He's the only person I know who, when he walks into a room, every person, man or woman, ovulates."

For three years, she was married to Wes Craven, the director perhaps best known for the horror film franchises "Scream" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

When Craven left acting to pursue photography, she found all those years spent watching filmmakers paid off as she had a natural knack for taking pictures. Still, she took courses at UCLA and studied under the direction of teachers like Bobbie Lane, who taught her that a photographer does "whatever it takes" to get a shot, knows about lighting and isn't afraid to be bold.

Her work soon got noticed and Craven began shooting commercial photography, including covers for Us and People magazines. Because she photographs a lot of celebrities, her work reaches a syndicated audience.

On her own time, she began shooting cemetery angels during her travels. When Stone, who has been a friend for 24 years, saw them, the idea for the book took shape.

"It was purely a project of the heart," Craven said.

Her heart also led her to give 10 of the book's photos to Elton John as a birthday present after he admired them.

Craven's own favorite is on the first page. It shows an angel gazing off in the distance while a mass of dark sky churns behind him and a ray of light shines on his wings.

"I waited three or four hours for the sunshine to strike it just the right way," she said.

She is adamant about using natural light and not retouching or in any way manipulating her pictures.

"I don't move anything in the shot," she said. "Not even the trash."

She also refuses to be lured by digital cameras, sticking to her trusted 35 mm.

Craven lives in Desert Shores with longtime partner Wesley Long, a former bodyguard for Celine Dion. It was Long's job which brought the couple to Las Vegas about a year and a half ago.

Craven is planning two other books, and one is another collaboration with Stone.

"Something to Hold" debuts in April and will be available at Amazon.com and through Barnes & Noble Booksellers. It also is featured on her Web site, www.mimicraven.com.