You’re reading our series Summer’s Not Cancelled, where we celebrate summer in this new normal. From rediscovering nature and cherishing time with friends and family, to virtual festivals and unforgettable staycations – summer’s still here, it’s just different.
Bored of the view from your window? Why not swap it for grazing cows in the rural fields of the Philippines or the dazzling lights of the Manhattan skyline?
Travel may still be restricted, but a new video project will virtually transport you around the world, allowing you to watch the view from someone else’s window. The relaxing footage is just the thing you need after months of lockdown.
The project, titled Window Swap, was created by Sonali Ranjit and her husband Vaishnav Balasubramaniam, two advertising creatives based in Singapore.
Between them, they’ve previously lived and worked in India, Shanghai, Singapore, San Francisco and Stockholm, so spent lockdown wondering how their friends abroad were getting on.
It follows a similar project titled Take Me Elsewhere, created by Negele Hospedales, Mikhail James, Husson Zaman, and Alex Barakat earlier this year. Take Me Elsewhere features an accompanying playlist, while Window Swap features video footage with the natural sounds of wind and birds, creating the sense of a live feed.
Ranjit and Balasubramaniam were inspired to create Window Swap after gazing out their window for months in lockdown. “We often wondered how it would be to trade places with our friends, just to be able to see something different outside our windows,” the couple say in a joint email to HuffPost UK.
They initially exchanged footage with a close group of friends – and enjoyed the experience so much they decided to open it up so anyone could join. Now, there are more than 60 videos from 26 countries.
“We loved the experience so much, it really felt like an escape,” they say. “Even though we’re not as contained in our houses anymore, travel is still a distant dream.”
Taking part in the project is simple: users can submit a short video from their window or balcony to an email address listed on the website. All videos are reviewed by the couple before they’re uploaded.
The videos should be two to 10-minutes long, shot horizontally and steadily, preferably in HD. Ideally, at least a corner or two of your window or door frame should be seen in the shot.
“We welcome all kinds of windows, whatever the shape, whatever the view,” they said, “because what we usually take for granted, is gold for someone else.
The couple has managed to get videos from 26 countries, ranging from Medellin in Colombia, Cordoba in Argentian, Rowville in the suburbs of Melbourne, Bangalore in India, La Baule in the South of France, and a view of the Manhattan skyline in New York.
“We have views with contented cats on window sills, church bells in Bergamo, Italy, grazing cows in Pampanga in rural Philippines, and cyclists in Copenhagen,” they say. “Each one of them is so unique and personal it’s hard to select a favourite! It depends on the day and the mood we are in.”
View more pictures of the views below or visit window-swap.com to watch the relaxing footage, bird sounds and all.