The jury’s comment: 

“Daniel Nilsson noted that the boundary between work and private life was disappearing and sensitively captured how the white-collar class dealt with pandemic life.” The jury also emphasised that Daniel Nilsson’s “documentary practice is imbued with humour and sharpness.”

Home Office is a warm and humorous documentation of one of the most dramatic periods in modern history. It is also a photographic tribute to human inventiveness. Daniel Nilsson’s photographs of the home offices that popped up in Sweden as a result of workplace closures and furloughs during the pandemic show how working life changed for many of us. Suddenly, we worked at home and were forced – through technical novelties like Teams and Zoom – to invite our colleagues into our messy laundry rooms, basements and broom cupboards.  We’ve held wage negotiations in kitchens surrounded by piles of dirty dishes. We’ve had cosy afternoon coffee breaks in hobby rooms where gym clothes were hung to dry. We’ve had board meetings in unmade beds.  

Along the way, we’ve witnessed one of the biggest revolutions in working life in modern time, a change that will make a mark on the historical timeline. It is in this perspective Daniel Nilsson’s photographs of home offices should be viewed. As a shift in paradigm, where having an office or workplace in a crowded city is no longer necessary – and where people do their best to find their role in a new era.

From the book Hemmakontor [Home Office]. Written by Henrik Ekblom Ystén

Daniel Nilsson (b. 1978) is a photo journalist who lives in Malmö. He works mainly for newspapers and magazines and has won numerous awards in Sweden and internationally for his images and features. Nilsson’s photographs are frequently published in the football magazine Offside, where he produces reportages with a distinct social perspective, often with a dash of quirky humour in his pictures. When football took a break during the pandemic, Nilsson worked on a project to photograph Swedish home offices. The project was recognised as the “Everyday Reportage of the Year” in 2021 by Årets Bild, and has been widely acknowledged for being so humorous and familiar, both in Sweden and internationally.

The jury consists of Annika von Hausswolff, Lena Kvist, Patric Leo, Maud Nycander and Roger Turesson. The Award is assigned by Tore G Wärenstams stiftelse in collaboration with Lars Tunbjörk stiftelse.

The award was established 2015 to honor the memory of photographer Lars Tunbjörk. Lars Tunbjörk past away 2015.

Images from the series Hemmakontor [Home Office], 2020–2021