OCTOGENARIANS can be Insta-famous too one Japanese senior citizen has proven, after amassing a huge cult following online for her bizarre and creative photos.
Pushing 90 years old and with a penchant for taking photos of herself in strange situations such as having traffic accidents, dressed as furry animals, or being attacked by birds, Kimiko Nishimoto’s Instagram profile has seen her work gain prominence.
Nishimoto has gathered more than 113,000 followers since starting her account in late 2017.
According to Kyodo News, Nishimoto was born in Brazil in 1928 and returned to Japan when she was 8 years old. For most of her life she was a housewife, before discovering her passion for photography at age 72.
“It’s almost like all her doors sprung wide open when she turned 72,” she said at her first exhibition opening in Tokyo last year.“I just want to do something funny,” Nishimoto told The Japan Times. “As far as I’m concerned, life is all about being playful. I look around my house and am always finding fun things to photograph … I just love humour.”“I love the sound of a shutter clicking,” said Nishimoto as quoted by The Japan Times. “Cameras have opened a window to another world for me. It would be boring just sitting around the house all day.”
Her son Kazutami, who owns a studio where he teaches professional photography courses, told the newspaper that “I didn’t really even think about my mother’s age when she joined my class … photography has no age limit.”