Shawn Biessel is a photographer based out of Omaha, NE, focusing on human-altered landscapes including land use and urban sprawl.
This field next to the North Omaha power plant caught my eye. The juxtapositions with the stands and the power infrastructure is a fun juxtaposition, I think. And the seat colors are lovely. The second photo here was initially the one I thought was stronger, but now I’m leaning toward the first due to the colors and leading lines.
A vacant lot, tractor trailer, and some seemingly vacant buildings. A pale blue sky that isn’t sure it’s winter or spring. A lonely tilted light pole sits amidst the pastel hues. “Relationship equipped,” reads the trailer.
Avenue One is a new development in West Omaha that promises to cover 50 square blocks of old farmland with a variety of housing and commercial space. Signs advertising this new development adorn trailers along Dodge near 192nd Street atop its eventual home. A girl the size of a billboard seems to be broadcasting the possibilities. Bring your new family to a new home.
The signs got me thinking. Who will inhabit these new converted farmlands on the edge of town? Who are the intended residents? Who won’t be living here? And further: What does the loss of farmland—which was prairie before that—mean? What does it mean that existing homes in the older core of Omaha are decaying while we build new ones further out?
With the addition of this photo, I’m also retiring the old working title for my Omaha work Omaha Gothic. It never really fit. For now, I’m renaming this series Facades.
The old industrial yards off I480 south of Leavenworth have always caught my attention, so I decided to finally check them out. I didn’t find anything anything extraordinary, but these two photographs are possible additions to Omaha Gothic.
This remains one of my favorite photos from my time in Omaha. I can’t quite pinpoint why, but here are some ramshackle thoughts. I’ve always been drawn to isolated objects and this definitely one: an old lone truck in a vacant lot. I like how the whole scene frames the truck with some mirroring that doesn’t quite match up. The trees sort of mirror the building; the cement kinda mirrors the sky. The no parking sign sort of mirrors the City View sign in the background. And in the middle of it all, an off-kilter parked pickup.
This is one of those photos that will probably always bother me. I’ve never quite been happy with the post-processing. Is it too blue? Too orange? I’ve hit my head against the wall and at some point you just have to give up. This one’s going in Omaha Gothic.
Exploring the outskirts of a re-purposed grocery store in south Omaha. These are new additions to Omaha Gothic.
It’s hard to find words for the last week. It’s been a roller coaster ride of horror and sheer awe of the courage of the people of Ukraine. My heart goes out to Ukrainians and the protestors on the streets of Russia.
The title of this post comes from the song “Folly” from Sea Power’s new album Everything Was Forever, which has been resonating with me this week.
![Chalk written on a concrete wall that reads "Save [depiction of Ukrainian flag] from Putin." Purple, yellow, and red flowers sit underneath on the sidewalk.](https://i0.wp.com/sbiessel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/dsc2581.jpg?resize=880%2C880&ssl=1)
This old railroad (?) building has caught my eye on several occasions on walks in the downtown Omaha area. I think I managed to finally catch the late afternoon light right. That tilted telephone pole in the middle both annoys me and kind of makes the image. I think this is a new addition to Omaha Gothic.
