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These Never-Before-Seen Photos Change the Conversation Around Amy Winehouse

Captured through the lens of her close friend Blake Wood, these intimate photos show a softer side of the late singer

By Haley Chouinard
A person riding a horse on a dirt path in a grassy landscape with trees in the background, captured in black and white.
WInehouse horseback riding in Saint Lucia, 2009. Photo: Blake Wood

Person sitting on a horse with a background of a beach and palm trees. Book cover design elements are visible.
Though she died seven years ago last month, Amy Winehouse continues to be a source of public fascination. In the new book Amy Winehouse ($40; Taschen), the troubled singer is seen in a series of informal, intimate photos taken by her close friend, American photographer Blake Wood.

“This is not the doom-and-gloom false narrative portrayed in the media,” Wood has said of the book. “She was a brilliant, loving soul who made amazing personal triumphs, and these images capture that.”

Wood met Winehouse in 2008, shortly after he moved to London. Winehouse was at the height of her celebrity, with her album Back to Black garnering five Grammy awards that same year. Over the next few years, the pair bonded personally and creatively, with Wood documenting Winehouse during her happier, less-publicized moments.

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“With these photos, I want to change the conversation around Amy,” Wood told Dazed. “I think even when I was with her at that time, among all that press, among all the questions and all the judgment, I always tried to instill in people who she was at her core, and not any of these other things that they were trying to create.”

Wood’s pictures show Winehouse playing drums in her home studio, smirking at a bowling alley, and enjoying the seclusion of a beach in Saint Lucia—a stark contrast to the barrage of paparazzi photos that were covering the tabloids at the time. With text by pop culture journalist Nancy Jo Sales, the book explores a relaxed, more peaceful side of the beloved singer.

Person applying makeup in a dimly lit room, standing in front of a mirror with textured walls in the background.
Winehouse touching up her makeup in a pub bathroom mirror. George Tavern, East London 2008. Blake Wood

A person riding a horse on a dirt path in a grassy landscape with trees in the background, captured in black and white.
WInehouse horseback riding in Saint Lucia, 2009. Blake Wood

Person with curly hair standing on rocks by the sea, wearing a bikini top and jeans, looking into the distance.
Winehouse on Plantation Beach, Saint Lucia, 2009. Blake Wood

Woman passionately playing drums in a dimly lit room with a noticeable light flare effect.
Winehouse playing drums in her home in Camden, London, 2008. Blake Wood

Person partially visible in dim lighting, wearing leopard ears headband, with circular wall decorations in the background.
Winehouse at a London bowling alley, 2008. Blake Wood

Person lying on sand at beach, partially covered in sand, with tattoos on arms and chest, surrounded by hands.
Winehouse in Saint Lucia, 2009. Blake Wood