For the past several years, the Northwest Passage‘s In a New Light program has engaged young people with mental health problems in nature photography. The Spooner-based program has often focused on the St. Croix River.

Now, they have gotten “Under the Surface” with their latest endeavor. Check out the video below, showing how they explored the St. Croix — and the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior — using underwater cameras.

In the summer of 2014, intrepid teenage explorers set out to photograph a realm that has seldom–if ever–been previously photographed: The underwater world of the The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. This unit of the National Park Service shared by WI and MN is a stunningly beautiful ribbon of wild water, traversed by thousands of canoeists, campers, and fisherman every year. But, like underwater ecosystems everywhere, few have experienced its beauty beneath the surface.

The young artists are part of Northwest Passage’s In a New Light nature photography program. Northwest Passage is an intensive residential mental health treatment center for teens. For these young men, the river offered far more than beautiful photos.

New Light under the Surface is a partnership between Northwest Passage, Dr. Toben LaFrancois of Northland College, and the National Park Service, It is was generously funded through a National Park Service Youth Partnership Program grant.

Watch the video to see the passionate young photographers in action, as well as samples of their breathtaking work, exposing the world of beauty and wildlife that few of us ever see.

In a New Light was previously covered by Wisconsin Public Television, watch that program here.

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