Exhibition: Blood In My Eyes

‘What I’m doing is not a normal exhibition; it’s more of an installation,’ says photographer Ana María Vélez Wood.

The exhibition features 45 images of Bob Dylan using four different mediums. Some photographs will be shown in the original black and white, while others will be diasecs (a normal photographic print with a special finish), colour images and light boxes. Also featured is a print on silk, the largest piece of the exhibition.

On the morning of July 21 1993, Ana María received a phone call from Dave Stewart asking if she would take still shots of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood in My Eyes’ video. Just 48 hours before she had been in the Amazon, but without hesitation she packed her camera bag and headed to Camden Town for the shoot.

‘I don’t get very star struck,’ says Ana María. ‘I’ve worked with and seen a lot of famous people in my life.’  She and Stewart were simply experimenting with the film and imagery, which made it easy to photograph Dylan. The trio worked their way through Camden town, all around the lock and Main Street gathering crowds and fans on their way.

Ana María says she always knew she would have an exhibition of the photos from the shoot, but the timing hasn’t been right until now. ‘I have priorities. That’s why it’s taken so long,’ she says.

Photos from the Blood in My Eyes shoot have only been seen by Dylan and Stewart, other than those used for Dylan’s ‘World Gone Wrong’ album cover. When Ana María began testing different mediums nearly three years ago, she showed the photos to a select few. She says the reactions of those who saw the tests were fantastic; it was something people really wanted to see, Dylan fans and non-fans alike.

‘The only thing in my mind is to present these pictures; to share these pictures with people,’ says Ana María. She welcomes people to come experience what that day, nearly 20 years ago, was like.

The exhibition is being held at Testbed1, a large Victorian depot that’s allowed Ana María to make her exhibition more of an event. She explained that it’s a very unusual venue for London, due to its large space and 80s New York art space atmosphere. ‘I didn’t even have a second thought,’ she says. ‘I thought, this is the place.’

25 October-8 November, private view Tuesday 30th October: 6-8.30pm
Testbed1, 33 Parkgate Rd, Battersea, London SW11 4NP
www.anamariavelez.com/