Their photos depict a different world.
A fish exploring a murky landscape. An underwater cavern of red rock. A turtle swimming into the light.
The photographers aren’t professionals. They’re young men and women living at Northwest Passage, an intensive residential mental health treatment center in Webster, Wisconsin.
Suiting up in their cold water wetsuits, goggles, snorkels and fins, the 12- to 17-year-olds are participants in Northwest Passage’s "Under the Surface" underwater photography program.
But it’s not just an opportunity to develop a new hobby. It’s therapy, according to the center's Ian Karl, and it's the only program of its kind.
It was conceptualized based on the idea that nature can be a powerful element in mental health treatment, explained Karl, who serves as an experiential program coordinator at Northwest Passage
Contact with nature lowers pulse rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels in the blood, which is a stress hormone, he said.
"And we see it when we get kids in the water," said Karl. "They go from an excited or anxious or nervous state, to one of calm and focus, and become truly engaged in what they’re doing."
"Rite of Passage." Photo Courtesy of Northwest Passage
Outings to local bodies of water, like the St. Croix River, are run like a professional dive. Before the kids get diving, they talk about what the day will look like, and what the safety requirements are for this particular area.
Then, they suit up and start exploring. After a few hours, they take a quick lunch break. Then they’re back in the water again.
At the end of the day, they deconstruct the dive, talking about what they’ve found, what photos they’ve taken, what things they’ve discovered.
Toben LaFrancois is an invertebrate biologist, aquatic ecologist and co-founder of the "Under the Surface" program. For him, seeing the kids’ enthusiasm for nature and diving is powerful.
"There’s just something pretty universal about getting in the water and learning these techniques and just enjoying the day and discovering things together," he said. "Pretty much all the kids that enter the program, in one way or another, find a way to make the water their place and show us new things about it. It’s really revitalized my love for being in the water."
"Lily from Under." Photo courtesy of Northwest Passage
The experience continues out of the water, too. Many participants discover a new love or talent for photography. They learn the tools quickly, sometimes even capturing better scenes than the pros, LaFrancois said.
Over the five years of the program, their photos have been displayed in galleries across the state and across the nation, Karl said, as well as Northwest Passage’s own gallery in Webster.
"When you have a group of kids at a photo reception who haven’t necessarily gotten the best attention for something positive they’ve done before is extremely powerful," Karl said. "And they have a crowd of people applauding them, and shaking their hand, and saying great work. It’s really a strength building experience for them."