A divorce, a friend, or really two, a chance meeting with a neighbour in the stairwell, and a boat-building collective on its way. Small and large encounters and turning points in life led photographer Petra Bindel to the place she has called home for just over ten years. The place is an apartment in a beautiful brick building from the turn of the last century, set on a picturesque street in the old parts of Malmö. Originally a three-room flat, it was later rebuilt into four rooms when her daughters needed bedrooms of their own. A few years later, the kitchen was moved from the smallest room facing the courtyard to the largest room facing the street. The old kitchen became a living room, which became a bedroom, which became a teenage room, which became an office. It has been in constant motion over the past ten years. I’ve slept in every room. I honestly think we have all tried every room. The apartment is incredibly flexible in that way. But moving the kitchen changed the whole dynamic, since we had previously squeezed ourselves into the smallest room in the apartment. The kitchen is where we always gather. Cooking is what I prioritise most at home. With a professional life that at times involves a lot of travel, and with changes of varying significance in family life, the meaning of home has also shifted over the years. Home follows my development outside it. What I work with, how my family is composed, and what my friends are doing. I feel that place matters less now that the children are grown, and that I am clearly less interested in having a lot of things around me. Simplifying and daring to follow change feels more and more right as the years go by. I am also very good at feeling at home in different places. Because I have travelled so much, it feels completely natural to settle in wherever I arrive. Sometimes I feel more at home in a rented Airbnb apartment than in my own home. Otherwise, home is mostly the friends who live in the building and my family. And the fact that we have this place to gather, with all the memories and all the time we have spent here. Petra’s home is pared back without being minimalist, furnished with lots of wood and earthy colours. The walls are filled with art by friends, acquaintances, and artists she worked with during the three years she ran a contemporary art gallery. Colour accents are few and carefully chosen. Materials matter. The newly built kitchen has stained plywood fronts and a limestone worktop. I have a tendency to always choose sensitive materials. Soap-treated wood, limestone worktops in the kitchen. Everything becomes a bit matte and dry. I’m probably not very glossy. I often want to find something that feels natural and not overly thought through, and that will last over time. I’m also the queen of beige. Some people want to be more rock. I prefer more colour. Do you feel that your home reflects who you are? In a way, it does, since most objects have some kind of connection to work experiences or to people close to me. That doesn’t mean I identify myself through them. I am just as much myself without them. But it has been built up over a long time, with my help. Through your work you have photographed many very different kinds of homes. What do you notice when you visit other people’s private spaces? I enjoy arriving at homes where people don’t feel the need to tidy up before you come. Homes that have a good vibe even in messiness. I can be a bit too orderly at home myself, so I really enjoy big, messy atmospheres. I don’t think that much about the objects. Mostly about how I experience people in their most protected environment. That is a luxury to be allowed to experience.

Emma Persson Lagerberg