Rider’s Lens: Framing Everyday Life with Ryutaro Nakamoto

Words and photos by Ryutaro Nakamoto

Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Ryutaro Nakamoto (中本隆太郎), and I live in Tokyo, Japan, with my wife and two daughters, ages three and six. I love bicycles. I’m currently the manager of a small cafe in my neighborhood where bicyclists gather. I am good at hitchhiking and backpacked around Mexico, Alaska, Canada, and many other places when I was younger.

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Shortly before I got married and had my first daughter, I moved from the center of Tokyo to the west side of the city, where there’s more nature and a slightly more relaxed atmosphere. The new house we found was built on the rooftop of an old apartment building. It’s small, but the entire rooftop is our space, with nothing to block our view and a great location with abundant nature. When we first moved in, we woke up every morning and were in awe of our surroundings, which inspired me to document our life. I pulled out my SLR camera—which I’d hardly touched since buying it many years ago—and started taking pictures.

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I had almost no knowledge of photography, but there were many things I wanted to capture. If it was sunny, I would dance on the roof. If it snowed, I would take a bath outside. At the end of the year, I’d take out all the furniture in the house and put it in order to catalog everything, taking pictures while laughing with my family and occasionally uploading them to my personal Instagram with funny titles. Then, with the Corona pandemic in 2020, Tokyo was locked down, and the cafe I work at decided to close. I could spend more time with my family, giving me more opportunities to take photos. Since I couldn’t go outside and had a lot of free time, I created a family Instagram and started posting family photos regularly.

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My wife was a show dancer when she was younger and danced at theme parks. Now, it’s a hobby, but when music comes on, she always starts dancing. She sometimes works as a backup dancer for bands or as an assistant for show dancers. She’s a very vivid lady with a huge a smile and endless compassion, and she’s also very funny. When I point the camera at her, I never know what she’s going to do, and the pictures often end up blurry because we’re laughing so much.

My daughters are growing up to be such funny people, too. My oldest daughter loves singing and dancing and recently made her stage debut. She’s the musical star of our family. Our younger daughter loves dinosaurs and tries to bring all her favorite dinosaurs with her when she goes out. Not all of them can be carried on the bike, so our outings often start with some persuasion. If my photos are pleasing to anyone, it’s probably because of the girls’ character.

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I get ideas for my photos from my daily life with my family. I also bring home old furniture that I found on the curbside or objects that have washed up in the river and use them to take pictures. If I find interesting old clothes or fancy pajamas, I always want to photograph them. I also like to think of titles to accompany the photos. I always think about it while I’m shooting. I often get title ideas from TV commercials I saw as a child, catchphrases from advertisements, or popular songs from years back. As soon as I think of these words, I note them and save the ideas. I usually come up with them while riding my bike to work. I can’t cite any particular photographers or genres that inspire me, but I love The Blues Brothers and watch it over and over. They are the best. There’s likely some subconscious inspiration there.

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I don’t take many pictures beyond family photos, and I rarely shoot photos without people in them. I’m ashamed to say that I don’t have much photographic knowledge or technique, but taking pictures is one of our family activities. It’s something that brings us closer together. So, it’s meaningful to me in that way, and when I get a photo that I’m happy with, I feel satisfied for the whole day.

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When I started sharing my photos online, I was surprised to see the response not only from Japan but also from people overseas. About a year after we started posting, Keen used our photos in an ad for their global campaign, and when I saw the videos and photos of our family plastered all over New York City, my wife and I were stunned, wondering, “What’s going on?!” If nothing else, we hope people who see our photos get a little laugh and a reminder not to take anything too seriously.

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Beyond photos, bicycling is the foundation of our family. Whether we go to the supermarket or the mountains, we ride our bicycles there. Most of the time, I carry my camera on my back. Riding allows me to take pictures wherever I feel like it. My children’s moods change quickly, so it’s great to have the camera on me so I can take pictures as soon as I think of ideas.

In Japan, it is common to put the kids on the front and back of the bike, which is how we transport them for now. We also love riding someplace beautiful and then getting off the bikes to walk with our daughters between us, listening to stories, singing together, and talking about what we saw. Sometimes, I record those songs and conversations, and I hope to listen to them again with my wife someday. By the way, I love the Rivendell bicycle I’m riding right now because of its long wheelbase, which makes it easy to ride with two kids in the front and back, and it is also the coolest-looking bike I’ve ever owned!

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I don’t have any expectations of becoming a professional photographer. Still, if I get the chance, I would love to take a family trip to Mexico or the Yukon River, revisiting some of the places I traveled when I was younger. It would be great to photograph them experiencing those places that mean so much to me.

Outside of photography and bikes, I like to visit local second-hand stores, play futsal, and listen to late-night radio. I also like to play guitar. When I was younger, I used to carry my guitar all the time while traveling. I dream of forming a band with my wife one day and performing live. I also like to renovate houses. Recently, I’ve been into painting. I enjoy painting the walls pink and light blue, following the model of the colorful houses I saw in Mexico. However, I don’t tell my landlord. He’s an art college graduate, so I think he would understand.

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Lastly, I recently bought an old Volvo and am planning a family trip with our bikes on the car. I think it would be fun to load up my guitar, amp, bike, and camping gear and travel around Japan singing (and my wife dancing) along. I would also like to compile all of my photos into something for display, but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. Maybe we should have a photo exhibition on the riverbank?

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