22 Nebraskaland • December 2024
hen he was 46 years old,
Matt Hollamon saw his
first tornado — and was
immediately hooked.
Invited to tag along on a friend's
storm chasing excursion in Kansas,
Hollamon found himself gazing at a
storm "that looked like a spaceship,"
he said. "It was just being in that
position — hearing the tornado sirens
going off in this little town. It was such
a cool experience."
A lifelong Nebraskan, Hollamon
lives in Martell and had been taking
pictures for a couple of years prior
to this. He already knew he loved
photographing the sky, especially
sunsets and lightning. But this wild
evening in 2016 introduced him to
something new — the art of storm
chasing. And he hasn't stopped since.
Today, Hollamon estimates he's
seen about 80 tornadoes — though
tornadoes aren't necessarily the goal.
"I'm kind of a structure junkie," he
said. "I like a storm that looks like a
spaceship. When the wind carves out
something that has those layers on it
and it looks like a stack of pancakes, I
love that."
The immensity of these supercells
leaves him in awe. "They go 50,000
feet in the air at the cloud tops. It
makes you feel insignificant, like
there's something bigger out there,"
he said. "I don't feel like I have to go to
church to be in church."
For Hollamon, photography and
storm chasing is a vital part of life —
the way he recharges from work as a
nurse at Tabitha Hospice in Lincoln.
"The job that I do, it's a high burnout
deal. I've done it for five years,"
Hollamon said. "And if you last five
years doing what I do, you have to be
able to take care of yourself. … I need
my photography for me, as much as
anything else."
Working full-time means it isn't
easy to find time for storm chasing.
Hollamon finds opportunities where
he can and each spring, usually in May,
he tries to take a two- or three-week
"chase-cation."
During that time, Hollamon might
put as many as 8,000 miles on his
vehicle, hopping from Oklahoma one
day to Colorado the next, sticking
mostly to the Great Plains. He chases
alongside a good friend and fellow
photographer he met on Instagram,
Justin Snead.
While Hollamon knows some
photographers who chase storms solo,
he prefers having a chase partner. "I
think it's a big advantage," he said. "I
Hollamon shot this scene at his home in Martell. "I love being able to walk out of the house and capture images like this one.
This little shower rolled over the house, and the sun just lit up the sky," he said.
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