Photographer Pankaj Anand says he didn’t want a home that felt like a home

What was the space like when you first saw it?
Completely different from what it is now, and it was packed with too much furniture and a bit of junk left behind by the previous tenants. I wanted absolutely none of it, so I cleared out the entire house till it was a blank canvas for me to create the space I wanted.

What was your vision when creating a home here?
I didn’t want this space to feel like a home. For the past decade, I’ve spent around 200 nights in a year travelling for work. When you’re on a different location every other day, you don’t get the time to discover a single thing about it. Before you can think about settling in, it’s time to move on… leaving behind a bit of a vacuum in your heart. If I think about it honestly, I don’t want to ever give in to feeling that way. And capturing the perfect photograph is never planned—it usually involves stepping out of your comfort zone. So I didn’t want to think about feeling cocooned in a house or long to go back to a cosy space while being on my feet all day shooting.
 

What are the kinds of homes have you shot over the years?
Everything from five-star hotel rooms, the sprawling grounds of palaces and palatial princely estates to intricate interior details in the nooks and corners of the humblest homes in the country.

Of all the spaces you’ve shot, which one is most symbolic to you?
That’s very difficult to answer! While I can’t pinpoint one home, the concept of the Ice hotel in Sweden echoed several sentiments and principles from my way of living. Each of the rooms can technically be described as igloos, as they’re made completely with ice. Every summer, the entire hotel melts and it’s rebuilt again in the winter. For me, this symbolised the way nature works—nothing in life is ever permanent. To be living a fulfilled life, you’re supposed to constantly rebuild yourself and not get stuck in a single way of being.

What are the styles you’ve learnt along the way, and which ones work best in an Indian home?
There can never be a singular style that can define an Indian home. And there shouldn’t be. If you look at the weather, topography, culture, and nuances across each state (and even within a state!) you’ll notice that the homes indigenous to these areas have worked out an architectural way of displaying and thriving in their conditions. Modern Indian homeowners, however, have become victims of herd mentality and have lost the vernacular language of building a home. The best style for any home is being true to the nature surrounding it and finding ways to blend it into each space.

After shooting so many homes and always being on the road for over a decade, what does the idea of a perfect home mean to you?
It should be like the definition of the word ashram: effortless. The perfect home for me would be a calm and peaceful retreat. While it’s nice to have history and emotion attached to it, it should also be a space where you’re at peace with yourself without needing any material objects to fill a void.