‘View From My Window’ Founder Barbara Duriau

The first time I heard about View From My Window was from a recommendation from a close friend. Before that, I had never heard of the group page.

Barbara Duriau’s photo on Facebook is copyrighted, so click here to see her lovely image leaning against a window sill — the person who helped peoples’ lives through the lockdowns and quarantines, and the sharing of which continues today. She opened the window for others to share the beauty of where they lived. All the images collected told a story. A commonality.

When I went to the group page, from a personal level, I thought it was an amazing way to connect with people. From a creative standpoint, I thought it was a unique idea that affected positivity, and definitely provided a level of comfort for those who were living alone and unable to venture out or travel like they used to.

I also thought it was the most thoughtful action of compassion bringing people together sharing their views from their windows while essentially at a standstill of keeping inside their homes. Everyone in the group could connect and share. And joining and sharing, they did. The group now has 3 million members. It is open to the public.

Barbara also has a View From My Window (VFMW) website. Lots of admin and moderator help was provided as well as crowdfunding support of the project “VFMW — Life after Facebook.”

View from my window was originally created to connect people from all over the world during the Corona lockdown, by sharing their views. The project was launched by Barbara Duriau on 22 March 2020. (Source.)

There are two volumes of books entitled View From My Window.

Some background of Barbara Duriau

Barbara is a freelance graphic designer who now lives in Amsterdam. In her experience of traveling, she was interested in seeing how other people lived.

In March 2020, when lockdowns began on country borders, she began wondering how people were living and how they could become connected. Her concept of people from all over the world sharing their views from their windows quickly took off.

Within 4 weeks we went from 60 members to 2 million. Every kind of photo imaginable; from backstreets to boulevards, parking lots to snow covered mountains, muddy puddles to pristine lakes. Every picture has told a story and been a way of reaching out to others. (Source.)

Some of the images shared on CNN Travel are interesting and amazing.

Below is a video posted by CBS Miami in 2020 regarding this remarkable viral act of sharing.

This act of sharing views by people from all over the world was a remarkable way of bringing people together while pretty much stuck in their living environments.

In March 2021 and after celebrating one year since the inception of the group on Facebook, in an interview by Forbes Magazine, she stated, “In 1998, I travelled around the world backpacking for one year. No Facebook, no Insta, no filter. I caught the travel bug.” She was 48 years old at that time.

In 2018, Barbara decided to leave Brussels which included quitting a job she had for 17 years and moving to Amsterdam. She needed a change and new experiences. A couple of weeks prior to the lockdowns associated with COVID-19, she was freelancing as a graphics designer.

The group on Facebook grew so rapidly that she had to have help. She discussed the group in the Forbes article, ‘View From My Window’ Celebrates One Year Of Sharing Views Around The World which is an interesting read.

Barbara’s personal website associated with work as a graphic designer is also interesting.

For my Vocal readers, below is a view from my window. As you can see, winter is still upon us in the Midwest.

Thank you for reading.

© Cathy Coombs