70-year-old woman lands a modeling career after street photographer posts her video online

Age is just a number and that stands true for Anne Flanagan. She landed a modeling career at the age of 70 after a photographer, Christopher Ward–who goes by @modelstrangers–shot a video of her on the streets of Belfast, UK, and posted it on Instagram in January. The post garnered over 42 million views and attracted the attention of many. In an interview with Good News Network, Flanagan said her new career proves that life does not end at 70.

In the viral video, Ward approached Flanagan and told her she looked "absolutely stunning." He then told her he takes pictures of people and asked her what she was doing around. She responded that she just had coffee with her husband and was walking around bored. When Flanagan shared that she was 70, Ward was stunned and asked her what her secret was. She replied, "I'm blessed. I have a wonderful husband and two lovely daughters. I have an amazing career and did very well through people believing in me." However, she admitted that she didn't believe in herself.

Ward asked her, "Why didn't you believe in yourself?" Flanagan responded, "Lack of... self-confidence. People working with me would have never believed I wasn't confident." She went on to talk about how she had to do radio and television interviews for her work. The 70-year-old then added, "I tell my girls all the time that opportunities come to pass, not to pause. So you grab them." In the past, she has worked as a career counselor, a social security officer and a corporate services director.

When the photographer took her pictures in the video, she told him, "I hope I haven't disappointed you." Ward replied that he was glad he stopped her because she had been so open and talkative. The video ended with Flanagan's beautiful pictures. People loved her grace and how she expressed herself. @stephaniesig commented, "This brought tears to my eyes! Anne, the next generation needed your transparency. Thank you for sharing! I can tell your heart is as beautiful as appearance." @margaretbetteley wrote, "We all lack confidence at one time or another, even beautiful people such as Ann. She is marvelous!" @christinanicole shared, "What an incredibly beautiful and humble woman." @samcolonofficial said, "She's lovely. I hope she saw this video and all the love she's receiving."

Flanagan loved how people responded to the video and how it made them feel empowered. She recalled, "I was stopped in a coffee shop, and this lady said, 'Are you Anne?' They love seeing an older person being given a platform." In April, a local boutique contacted her to model for their clothes. Sharing her experience, she said, "The day of the shoot, I felt so sick and unprepared." But ultimately, she had a fun time shooting with them.

"That was my very first foray into this bizarre world," she expressed. The 70-year-old has also been signed by the modeling agency, ACA Models (@acamodels), and booked to model at the Victoria Square 'Park and Stride' fashion show this Autumn. According to her, life is not over when one hits 70. She shared, "I've been absolutely overjoyed by the amount of older people who stop me and say things to me. They say it's 'great to see someone our age who's been spotted for standing out.' I just think it's great that an older woman is getting so much good publicity."

You can follow Christopher Ward (@modelstrangers) on Instagram for more pictures and videos of 'ordinary people.'

This article originally appeared 3 months ago.