Bolder: a platform that insists ‘age is just a mindset’

***Rachel Khoo would like to thank all the inspiring people who helped make the Khoollect studio a hive of creativity. Although the Khoollect studio’s doors have now closed, you can keep up with Rachel’s newest adventures on RachelKhoo.com and on Rachel’s Instagram and Facebook pages – and, continue to enjoy the Khoollect website’s stories and recipes, which will remain available.***

Be it the moment you spot the first white hair in your part, or spy tiny crinkles forming beside your eyes, there’s a time in every person’s life when they notice the early years slowly slipping away. But instead of fretting over the ageing process, what if this struck us as an exciting time? A turning point of growth in our lives?

Bolder is a platform that champions ageing, through beautiful photography and storytelling, and encourages its readers to embrace the wisdom that comes with each new birthday. Here’s what the photographer behind Bolder, Helen Cathcart told us about the idea:

Who makes up the team behind Bolder?

Bolder is an online platform created by Helen Cathcart and Dominique Afacan. Helen is a professional photographer and Dominique is an editor and writer. We met while working for a publishing company many years ago and we created Bolder so we had a personal project with meaning to work on together outside our freelance projects.

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Where did the idea for Bolder stem from, and what’s the philosophy behind the project?

We have always shared a fear in getting older and felt that the media had contributed hugely to this with it’s negativity around ageing and the focus on youth. As two women in our mid-thirties this is compounded. We are definitely at a time in our lives when we are being told that there is very much a deadline on our youth, as women, which we are apparently rapidly approaching. This is incredibly frustrating as it’s nonsense.

We wanted to change this mindset and do our small bit in changing people’s perception of getting older. Along the way we wanted to help ourselves to think more positively about getting older and create a bit more respect for our future 70-year-old selves.

Why do you think it’s important to champion older members of the community?

Even though the older demographic is fitter, younger and more well-off than ever, there is still a distinct lack of acknowledgement for this age group. The crazy thing is we are all going to get old. And yet while we are young and have the power to change the way older people are viewed, and therefore how ourselves are viewed in the future, we ignore that age group. We wanted to give a voice to them and show people that those over the age of 70 are still creating, inspiring or working and life isn’t over.

Are the people you approach to interview and photograph generally happy to become involved?

Most people are so happy to be involved and appreciate the message we are trying to put out. Some modestly just can’t understand why we would want to feature them, as they see their age as irrelevant to what they are doing.

How have you sought people out to feature?

We rely on word of mouth but we come across a lot of amazing people in our day-to-day jobs, while out on various commissions across the world. If anyone knows of anyone we should feature, please get in touch!

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What’s the feedback from your audience been like so far?

Absolutely amazing. We had such a great response from the minute we launched the site. Within one week we were featured in lots of different media and invited to give a talk on Bolder at Cannes Lions and for brands such as Dove and the Telegraph. We will soon be developing the site to include all the extra information we gather on our interviews and we would love to publish a book on ‘Bolder’ at some point.

What’s something you’ve learnt through this process and the people you’ve met along the way?

We have learnt so much from this process. Mainly that age is just a mindset and that it is so bad how the media constantly tries to portray it as a negative thing. Of course you have to be lucky to keep your health, but if you can do this then there is no reason to stop living your life in any other way than to the fullest. Every time we do a Bolder interview, we come away on such a high. All of our interviewees are so inspiring in some way and so positive. The positivity is one of the things that they make us realise we need to have more of. It’s a common thread. Also that you can find a partner at any stage in your life and still be having lots of sex in your eighties!

What do you hope for own future as you grow older?

We just hope we can be as positive and inspiring as our Bolders and keep that drive and happiness. We need to stop worrying. We need to appreciate what we have now and make the most of it. We need to just get out there and do things and get on with it.

One of the questions we always ask our Bolders is ‘what was your favourite time of life’? And they nearly always say ‘now’. We think that says a lot about how they think, and how they are just enjoying every minute.

What do you enjoy about getting older? Tell us in the comments below…

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WRITTEN BY:
Sonya Gellert

Sonya Gellert is a contributing writer and associate editor for Khoollect. She lives in Sydney....

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Visit Bolder, and follow Bolder on Instagram and Twitter (@being_bolder).