Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a woman shouting obscenities down what can only be described as an iconic phone. A 1960s type that you can imagine on a big screen.
It stopped me in my tracks. Living in an Instagram world where every reel comes across as similar, made me stop, sit up and take notice.
About the Project
The reel came from a new project called ‘Island City Voices‘. Brought together by Habib Rahman who has been a talented journalist in the area for quite some time working for The Portsmouth News. Achieving a new role on a bigger scale for the National World media group, he had to think of ideas that could make up a 24-minute documentary and this kind of project fitted the bill. The phone is a disconnected diner phone collecting voices and stories from around the city.
I caught up with Habib to ask about the project, what it means and how people can get on board with it. We met at the Canteen cafe in Old Portsmouth on what felt like the coldest day of the year so far.
A Voice for a Voice
Chatting about the new project, Habib said, “The project started on the principle of a voice for a voice and the voice in particular was of the little girl Hind Rajab who was murdered in Gaza and was only 5 years old.” Being a journalist, Habib has seen some stories over the years but this story made him feel he wanted an awareness about connection. Hind Rajab was in a car with her relatives trying to escape a city under attack and the car was shot many times killing all the little girl’s relatives. Sitting in the car, the little girl was on the phone talking for 3 hours to paramedics wanting them to help her. What struck Habib was what phone call would she make knowing she was going to die?
This triggered the thought of if you made your last phone call, who would it be to and what would you say? Habib said, “I thought how can I create something that tells the story around the people of Portsmouth and gives back to the community and even bigger yet, gives back to one voice that people don’t talk about. So a voice for the community in exchange for a voice for the world.
“The more I share and talk about the project, the more important I believe it is needed for the city and even possibly the wider world. It inspires the local community while captivating an audience, building compassion and triggering empathy. I was developing the idea of a wind phone and I came across a story where a Japanese man lost his wife in the tsunami of 2011. He installed a wind phone in his garden so he could deal with his grief and speak to his wife every day and this really struck a chord with me.
“It’s an alternative form of journalism and I have loved the reaction so far from this thought-provoking concept of If you could speak to anyone in the world, what would you say?”
Connection
In one of the first reels, the message says, “Communication is merely an exchange of information, but connection is an exchange of our humanity.” This message speaks loudly and I feel draws in on your emotions when watching the subjects so far. Whether it be one of the 4 elements of the project, love, reflection, empathy or compassion, all these human emotions affect our relationships and connections in our lives.
Offering a real talking point and reflecting on our own situations in life highlights the human nature of the things we might say to someone given the chance. It makes you think of your own emotions and what is left unsaid and can leave you with a heavy heart and sometimes no closure.
So the question is who would you call and what would you say? Would it be through the 4 elements attached to this project? Would it carry grief, forgiveness or empathy?
Reflection
Having spent a whole morning interviewing Habib, he asked me to be a subject. I felt very on the spot and I didn’t really have time to think about my responses. I think this makes you act on your first instincts and so I feel my responses were from the heart. It has actually been thought-provoking, as it has made me think who else would I want to phone? It has also made me think about a lot of situations. The question from Harley about the last ten years has made me think about the next ten years and what I can do about my health going forward and not in the past as I can’t change that.
Make sure to follow the project on Instagram and see the progress of this amazing collection of stories, photos and films of this vibrant city and its interesting folk!
Feature Photo – Habib Rahman
