Two riders on bobbers rolling toward camera, front headlights lit, Brake House leather jackets

Nowhere in Particular

A photo story by Emerson Kay. One September evening in the Midwest: back roads, a bridge, a pool hall, and the jackets that went along for all of it.

Oct 21, 2026

A Photo Story

Emerson Kay is a photographer out of Columbus, Ohio. All of this was shot on one September evening, from late afternoon until it got too dark to ride. A few back roads, a bridge, and a pool hall at the end of the night.

The rest is in Emerson’s words.

The Gray

There’s a certain grayness to the Midwest that I’ve always been drawn to. It’s dull and beautiful in equal measure. The rail yards, smokestacks, rust towns, and long stretches of road all have a character of their own. Growing up around these places, you don’t always recognize it until you start looking closer.

Two riders on a riverside road past an old mill town

Two riders outside an old brick storefront with a faded Pepsi sign

Rider riding straight at camera on main street, brown boots and black leather jacket

Two riders coming down a small town main street

Wide landscape shot of a lone rider on a gravel road under an open sky

Two riders coming down a hillside street in a small town

Rider in a beanie and leather jacket on an empty lot under a stormy sky

The Ride

Since I started riding, I’ve been drawn to the world Danny Lyon documented, following the Chicago Outlaws. There’s something familiar in those photographs, not just in the motorcycles or the people, but in the feeling of the places themselves. There’s a kind of boredom to this part of the country. Not much to do and nowhere in particular to go. So you get on your bike and ride. Sometimes the ride is the destination. You spend time at the bar, take the long way home, and find a reason to keep moving. There’s a beauty in that kind of life that I’ve always wanted to photograph.

Panning shot of a rider on a bobber, black leather jacket and brown boots

Rider riding past a concrete retaining wall on a back road

Rider pulling away on gravel at dusk, dust kicking off the rear tire

Rider riding the centerline of an empty two-lane road

Sometimes the ride is the destination.

Rider in a black leather jacket on a tree-lined road beside a guardrail

Rider leaning through a bend on a mountain road, background in motion blur

Two riders with headlights on a forest road, lead rider in a black leather jacket

Wide dive bar interior with a rider in a leather jacket at the lit pool table

Rider in a leather jacket and beanie with a whiskey glass and cue at the pool table

Rider in a black leather jacket holding a cue at a pool table in a dive bar

Rider leaning on a pool table, black leather jacket sleeve and watch in focus

III

Second Skin

A good jacket becomes part of that life, too. It’s something you reach for without thinking, something that goes wherever you go. Over time, it breaks in, takes the shape of your body, and starts to feel like a second skin. It becomes part of the experience rather than just something you wear for it.

Close-up of a black leather jacket chest and zip pockets in low garage light

Close-up of a black leather jacket collar, zip front and chest pocket

Rider in black leather jacket leaning over a motorcycle in the garage, wearing brown leather gloves

Rider in a beanie and black leather jacket leaning over the tank in a garage

Black leather jacket sleeve and tattooed hand over a V-twin engine

Detail of brown leather gloves on the handlebars of a bobber

Over time, it breaks in, takes the shape of your body, and starts to feel like a second skin.

Portrait of a rider in a leather cap and black leather jacket with a cigarette

Rider lighting a cigarette in a black leather jacket and leather cap

Close-up of a rider smoking, black leather jacket collar and snap in focus

Bearded rider in a black leather jacket beside a glowing headlight at sunset

On the bearded rider

“Motorist” 1930s Leather Sports Jacket

A 1930s sports-jacket pattern rebuilt for modern builds. Room through the chest and shoulders, a deliberate taper at the hem. Padova tea-core horsehide in a blackened-brown finish that warms as it wears, closed with a CONMAR zipper. Co-developed with Real Simons.

Real Simons by Brake House

See the Motorist →

Rider in a black leather jacket and cap on his bobber, brown leather boots on the pegs

On the rider in the cap

J-24 Double Rider Leather Jacket

A faithful reissue of the BUCO J-24, first made in 1953. Padova tea-core horsehide, removable belt, D-pocket and IDEAL zippers, cut broad through the shoulders and tapered at the cuffs and waist. Worn here with the mouton collar off.

Real Simons by Brake House

See the J-24 →

Real Simons leather tag detail on a motorcycle frame, gloved hand above the chain and rear wheel — A Real Simons tag, hung off the frame for the ride.

The Life Around It

That was the idea behind this project with Brake House. I wanted to photograph the jackets in the world they were made for, among the roads, bars, and places that give them context. Not just show someone wearing a jacket, but give a sense of the life around it. The kind of life where the bike is the place you go, and the jacket becomes part of who you are when you get there.