ST. PETERSBURG, FL — If you see a vintage-style telephone sitting on a table at one of St. Petersburg's waterfront parks, Jenny Hogan hopes you'll pick it up and start talking.
Designed to draw in passersby, the phone is her latest way of collecting real-life stories for her Stories of Humanity project.
Shortly after Hogan moved to St. Petersburg from Columbus, Ohio, just over a year ago, she thought it would be fun to interview some of the friends she was making in her new city, she told Patch.
At first, these interviews were simply a way to document their lives and give them something to look back on. They also allowed her to get to know her new friends better.
The project quickly grew from there. When she began posting the interviews to Instagram under its original name, Stories of St. Pete, friends of the people she interviewed began reaching out to her, also wanting to be interviewed. Then, they recommended others to interview, and eventually, strangers began contacting Hogan, wanting to share their own stories.
"I'm really passionate about stories and documentation, and just humans in general," Hogan said. "I've always had a love for film, especially, and this just seemed like such a perfect mix of all of those interests together."
The project has since been renamed Stories of Humanity, reflecting her plans to expand beyond St. Petersburg into Tampa, other parts of Florida and even outside the state.
Stories of Humanity features interviews and videos of people talking about their lives, experiences, and memories. She's already interviewed a few people in Tampa, including Mayor Jane Castor.
"Honestly, I am just seeing where it naturally evolves over time," Hogan said. "I think that there's something so beautiful about a passion project that just naturally evolves over time, and I always want the goal to just be, you know, allowing people to tell their story and to share the beautiful memories that encompass our daily lives, and seeing how that evolves over time."
She recently began using the telephone to collect stories from people who may not want to appear on camera.
The phone is a pop-up feature that Hogan brings to different locations. She also accepts voice memos from people who want to participate.
"It's something that I thought complemented the stories that I was doing well, and provided a space where people who don't want to show up on video or who want to share a story anonymously would be able to do so," she said.
There's no regular schedule for the phone's appearances, though she'll post updates to social media. She also encourages people to message her if they'd like her to bring the phone to an event or gathering.
For Hogan, the focus is less on who people are on the surface and more on the stories that have shaped them.
"I think it's very interesting when you provide a space for somebody to be open about their life and to be vulnerable, to see what they naturally share with you," she said.
The stories are also connecting people who might not have otherwise met. Friendships have formed between people she's interviewed and also between her interview subjects and those who came across their story while scrolling through social media.
"People have told me, like, 'If I would have seen this person on the street, I would have never approached them. But after hearing their story and knowing more about them, we have so much in common,'" Hogan said.
This sentiment is exactly what she hopes Stories of Humanity will continue to highlight as the project grows.
"In a world where we feel so isolated, and we feel so different from one another through comparison and all the different things that are happening in society, I think it's important to remember that there are so many things that connect us," she said.
In addition to Instagram, Stories of Humanity can also be found on TikTok.
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