Don’t stress about your life. It’s never too late to make a career change. Everyone’s living longer and you have more chances to do what you want to do (providing the economy and environment don’t break and we descend into Mad Max-style dystopia).
Just look at these inspiring late-bloomers, who’ve been brought together by Selfridges for new exhibition Bright Old Things. Despite making their start in different disciplines, each of the ‘Bright Old Things’ decided to abandon their life-long pursuits and take on a new project, later in life.
Here are some of our favourites. You can check out the exhibition, and complimentary events, at Selfridges in London and Manchester.
Sue Kreitzman
London-based New Yorker Sue Kreitzman spent her early years as a cook and food writer but had an epiphany in 1998 and embraced a career as an artist and curator. Self-taught, Sue’s work is folk-artish with emphasis on colour, iconography and female forms.
Robert Roope
Robert Roope spent 50 years working as an NHS optician before moving into eyewear design, dedicating his frames to the jazz musicians of the 40s, 50s and 60s like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
Bruno Wizard
Following a successful underground career in the 70s as frontman of The Rejects and The Homosexuals, Bruno Wizard fell into obscurity, living rough for a few years, before a volunteer at a London shelter discovered his story and put him back into the limelight, where he is now enjoying a new lease of life as a writer.
Molly Parkin
Although Molly started out as a painter she settled into a life of writing – working as a fashion editor and publishing many comic-erotic novels – in order to support her children. After struggling with alcoholism for 28 years, Molly returned to painting at 55 and describes the move as a ‘return to my true self’.
Bright Old Things runs in London and Manchester Selfidges for January and February.
You might like
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In west London, Subbuteo is alive and flicking
London Subbuteo Club — The tabletop football game sees players imitate vintage teams with tactics and tiny painted replica kits. Ryan Loftus takes a trip to Fulham to meet a dedicated community and witness a titanic Brazil vs Coventry City showdown.
Written by: Ryan Loftus
Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”
Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026
Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.
Written by: Huck
