Amy Winehouse in the Frank years: one minute on a London pavement, April 2005

London · April 2005

I am Charles Pycraft, a London photographer. In the small hours of 12 April 2005 I photographed Amy Winehouse on a London pavement, in a pink satin jacket, a dusky pink beret and black trousers, with a blue bag tucked under her arm. She was 21, she had one album out, and in almost every frame she is grinning. The four pictures on this page were taken in a single minute, between 03:10:32 and 03:11:32 by my camera's clock. I was six years into a career that ran from 1999 to 2014.

Back to Black was released 20 years ago today, on 27 October 2006, and a 20th anniversary edition came out last Friday, 23 October. So here is Amy a year and a half before that album, in the Frank years.

The pavement

My original caption from that night says only "in London", so I will not guess at the street. What the frames do show is a girl with a big grin. In one she pushes the beret back off her forehead, in another she laughs straight at the lens, and in the last one she strides towards the camera, still smiling. It was over in a minute.

The kit, and why it looked like that

The files say Nikon D2H, 15mm, f/7.1, 1/250 of a second, flash fired. That is the same wide, close setting I describe in my Zac Efron essay: a short lens pre-set for the pavement, a flash on a bar, and everything decided before anyone walks out of a door. At 15mm you are close enough to catch a grin like that one.

The world that week

It had been quite a weekend. On Saturday 9 April Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles in Windsor, and the Grand National was pushed back 25 minutes so that BBC One could show both. Hedgehunter, ridden by Ruby Walsh, won at Aintree by 14 lengths, and at the wedding reception the Queen reportedly announced the National winner before toasting the happy couple.

The number one single was (Is This the Way to) Amarillo by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay, halfway through a seven week run at the top.

Where she was in 2005

Frank had come out on 20 October 2003 on Island Records. In 2004 it was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize, and Stronger Than Me, written with Salaam Remi, won the Ivor Novello award for best contemporary song. In April 2005 Back to Black was still more than a year away. It was released on 27 October 2006, 20 years ago today.

Where we are now

The 20th anniversary edition of Back to Black came out last Friday, 23 October 2026. Alongside the original album it has four unreleased demos, rare B-sides and her full live set from the Paradiso in Amsterdam, recorded on 8 February 2007.

Amy died in 2011. I would rather remember her the way she is in these frames: 21, laughing on a London pavement, with the best of her music still to come.

My photography years ran from 1999 to 2014, and that archive is now licensed through Backgrid UK.

The pictures

Four frames from a body of work I made in London between 1999 and 2014, all taken within one minute.

To license these pictures, contact Backgrid UK Sales: backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com. More at charlespycraft.co.uk/licensing.

Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID. Licensing: Backgrid UK Sales, backgrid_uksales@shutterstock.com

Amy Winehouse in a pink satin jacket and pink beret laughing on a London pavement at night, a blue bag under her arm. — LONDON, APRIL 2005. Amy Winehouse laughs at the camera in the early hours of 12 April 2005, eighteen months after her debut album Frank. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Amy Winehouse lifting her pink beret with one hand as she walks along a pavement at night, a red bag on her shoulder. — Pushing her beret back, a moment into the walk. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Amy Winehouse smiling in a pink satin jacket and beret beside double yellow lines and a parked car at night. — The first frame of the minute, smiling beside a parked car. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.

Amy Winehouse walking towards the camera on a dark street, smiling, in a pink satin jacket and black trousers. — The last frame, striding towards the camera with a grin. Back to Black was released 20 years ago today, on 27 October 2006. Credit: Charlie Pycraft / BACKGRID.