In a whirlwind of icons and celebrities on Instagram, there is one 94-year-old Japanese woman who stands out from the crowd. Kimiko Nishimito is nothing like the others. She possesses a charm for photographing daily Japanese life through a delightfully silly and playful lens of her own.
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Kimiko first started photographing at 72. According to Japan Times, Nishimito took up a course in photography and image processing in 2001, taught by her eldest son who was an art director at a Japanese design studio, near her home in Kumamoto, Japan.
Instagram / @kimiko_nishimito
Kimiko then went on to develop her own unique style about photographing her day-to-day.
Since then, her self portraits have amassed over 300 000 followers on her Instagram account, where she posts an array of bizarre but brilliant amateur shots of herself in all sorts of imaginative situations.
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From happily posing in a loaf of bread to whizzing around on motorcycles at remarkable speeds, doing kung fu with birds, hanging herself on clothing lines, chasing demons on scooters and levitating in the air, Kimiko has done it all!
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Not only has she raked in hundreds of thousands of followers with her photography, Nishimito has inspired amateur photographers and creatives at all ages from around the globe to embrace their unique silliness, because it’s what the world likes to see.
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In her interview with Japan Times, Kimiko says:
“I just want to do something funny…”
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“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.”
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Just like Iris Apfel who goes on to inspire well into her 100s, Kimiko has reached icon status, too. As a 94-year-old who has a fresh take in the world of photography and self-portraiture, Kimiko shows us that you can keep it playful and intriguing at any age, from anywhere.
In a world where our challenges all seem to be so rife and serious, we often forget how to be silly. Here’s Kimiko’s reminder to you.
Feature Image: Instagram / @kimiko_nishimito
