‘We Don’t Fake Anything’: Meet the Creator from A View, From A Bridge
Each video begins just like the one before it. Someone walking over a bridge holds an old-school red telephone, looks into the distance and shares their thoughts and perspectives. A contemplative soundtrack plays in the background.
A View, From a Bridge is the title of the show. The first episode, released in February 2024, introduces Jason, a middle-aged man clad in a bright yellow rain jacket, flat cap and gloves. There’s no other information to work with. Standing on Millennium Bridge, he begins to share his story:
“One of the things I was taught as a child was, Armenians are superior to any other race in the world. And as I’ve grown up, I found that’s not true. We are not smarter than other people. We are not wiser. We haven’t achieved more than other people. So the big lesson I’ve learned in my life is: moderate yourself, you’re not that special.
“It’s hard to unlearn what your parents have taught you,” he continues, as the camera gradually pulls back, revealing the Thames and the Walkie Talkie in the frame. “When you actually go out into society and start working with other people and start engaging with other people, that air of superiority doesn’t make you many friends. It took a long time to learn it. I’m over 60 now and I probably didn’t realise this lesson until I was 58. Just treat yourself like a normal person. Treat others like a normal person. You’ll get along just fine.”
Since then more than 100 videos have been posted from various bridges, mostly across London, gaining 400,000 followers along the way. In two minutes or less, they capture something that the average cry for attention on the internet rarely does – authentic human beings tracing the path of their thoughts, somehow both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Except for the odd celebrity, like the singers Elmiene and Cat Burns, guests are relatively unknown by design. No topic is too big or too small, from why we need more spaces without cameras to how football can serve as a positive space to explore your sexuality. Elsewhere: reflections on race through the lens of the Barbican building, searching for home, and the absurdity of paying “£1 to pee!!!?”.
The creator, never seen on screen, is London-based artist Joe Bloom. When he launched the series on Instagram last year, it was one of several projects he was juggling, including producing vast oil paintings, which have been displayed at venues including Guts Gallery in Hackney, as well as directing short dramas and documentaries. Bloom didn’t have much of a plan for his newest project until he started posting the clips, and the response was too big to ignore. Online, the feedback was almost immediate, with people dropping comments relaying their own experiences.
Bloom uses a standard “off-the-shelf” video camera and enlists the help of an assistant producer. On filming days, they choose a bridge and invite a passerby to pick up the phone, which connects them to Bloom on the other end of the line. Bloom records from distances of up to 500 meters. “I won’t tell you how it works because online there are lots of fun conspiracies,” he explains, “but the phone is legit. We don’t fake anything.”
“We’re getting so many requests to be on the show, but I want to make sure it remains around 70% regular people”
Initially, Bloom was making the videos at a loss (“At one point I was 10 grand in the hole,” he says). But recently, the series has gained significant traction. Bloom now works on A View, From a Bridge almost full-time. The Premier League, H&M and Bloomsbury Publishing, among others, have paid to partner with the show. Another major milestone came midway through last year, when Bloom was invited to interview a pop star with over 25 million followers.
As he has gained access to famous names, Bloom has also faced new challenges, including how to preserve the populist spirit of his creation while building a successful business in the company of more powerful partners. “We’re getting so many requests to be on the show,” he says. “But I want to make sure it remains around 70% regular people, 30% well-known.” These are noble goals – surviving in the content industry is a grind. Even so, he turned down the opportunity to interview the pop star. “It would help us gain more commercial opportunities, sure, but it’s frustrating when so much content online feels like one big sales pitch. That’s part of why I started this – to push back against that. I don’t want to listen to someone when they’re talking gas.”
He adds, “Everyone on the show gets treated the same, whether you’re Gordon Ramsay or Sue in HR from who knows where. I feel like A View, From a Bridge has created its own space online, where you can sit with a thought for a bit longer. We haven’t reinvented the wheel; if anything, we’re revisiting an earlier time on the internet.” This explains why the pacing of the footage feels slow. “It took me ages to come up with a format that keeps the focus on the person and that moment in time. So many videos on social have a million cuts to keep your eyes moving, to distract you, because the content isn’t very deep.”
Soon, Bloom plans to launch A View, From a Bridge podcast, organising episodes thematically and featuring longer recordings. After all, he sometimes spends two hours recording footage, before editing it down to just two minutes. And if the account ever hits a million followers – which seems likely sooner rather than later – “only then will I record my own take from a bridge”.