Amy Winehouse - Tapa dura

"This is not the doom-and-gloom false narrative portrayed in the media. She was a brilliant loving soul who made amazing personal triumphs and these images capture that."

When 22-year-old American photographer Blake Wood moved to London in 2007, a mutual friend introduced him to Amy Winehouse. After winning five Grammy Awards for her 2006 album Back to Black, the celebrated singer with the sultry and emotionally raw voice was at the height of her celebrity, but struggling with her wayward partner and the scrutiny of constant media attention. Bonding personally and creatively, Wood and Winehouse developed a close friendship and would become inseparable for the next two years. From images of Winehouse performing in Paris to playing drums at her home studio in Camden Town, London, from lovingly composed portraits of her at ease on St. Lucia to carefree vamping for the camera, this is an intimate visual diary of the soul diva at a time when she was one of the most celebrated voices on earth. The story of this profound emotional collaboration is told through the lens of her confidant in 85 color and black-and-white photographs, most of them never published before, that reveal their mutual love, trust, and respect. With text by acclaimed pop culture critic Nancy Jo Sales, discover a rare and lighter side of this much-missed icon, totally at ease in front of her friend's camera; a typical young London girl enjoying life to the fullest.