Danny Bloom is a photographer who's lived in the city by the Bay for the past few years. As he readied to leave San Francisco, he decided to express his gratitude to the city that turned everything around for him.
People on a bus in San Francisco were surprised to find a touching message from an artist who just wants to say thank you to his adopted city.
Danny Bloom is a photographer who's lived in the city by the Bay for the past few years. He arrived in San Francisco after a difficult period that included a painful breakup and the death of a close friend.
“Honestly, I was in a really rough point in my life. I was dealing with just a lot of loss, a lot of sadness,” he tells Inside Edition. “When I first met you (San Francisco), I was shattered. I knew I needed sunlight and a change of pace, but I'll forever be humbled by the love, joy and peace that you brought me.”
He moved to San Francisco when it seemed many were headed in the opposite direction. The city was getting much bad publicity but he had a different experience, telling Inside Edition, “When I got here and I was like, is this the same city everyone's talking about?”
In no time at all, Bloom found himself blossoming. His life was back on track, he'd met a whole new group of friends and he was working as a photographer. He gives all the credit to San Francisco.
“I was just blown away about the welcomeness," he says. "Usually when I move to a new city, I think I meet that first group of friends, those that are my people, and I learned quickly that they're not, and in this case, it was the complete opposite. I was like, wow, I just found my family so fast. I have people that support me, care about me, and they barely even know me. It was just very touching."
Family is what's pulling Bloom back to the East Coast. He decided to leave thank you notes on city buses with copies of photos he'd taken in the area. He had no idea how his project would be received.
One of the first reactions he got now brings him to tears.
“I received a message from someone that said, ‘Hey, I've actually just got diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer today, and I saw your letter on the bus and your photo, and I picked it up and it just really meant a lot to me,’” he says. “Receiving that message about someone that just had such an unimaginably hard day and for them to be able to have a better day, to have a happy moment in that darkness through my photography, and my gift to the city. That was unbelievably cool."
Bloom says he hopes to return to San Francisco someday. He's already cooking up his next project.
“I was really looking for a way to get people to enjoy photography that wasn't just on their phone or on a screen,” he says.
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