Wisconsin Life

>> Pictures can be powerful.

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>> Just being able to express yourself, you know, share your vision with the world. >> They can show shadow and light, beauty and balance. And with the right subject, they can even bring a little joy. >> They just make me feel happy. >> But sometimes, for some teenagers, the big picture can be pretty dark. >> Breaking into cars, and my anger, my depression. >> Drug issues. >> The one thing that they have in common is that, for one reason or another, they've lost hope in their lives. >> Kind of getting in trouble at school, and you know, trouble with the law. >> They've come to conclude for one reason or another, whether it be a severe mental health issue, whether it be a very challenging family or home circumstance, that when they invest in theirself, it's still going to turn out really bad. >> A lot of just misbehaving, basically. I had nowhere else to go. >> So, they've often just given up. >> "They" are teenagers from around the country. Each has been brought to northern Wisconsin, to a residential treatment program called "Northwest Passage." They come in need of hope and a fresh start. >> The majority are referred through like the county juvenile justice system. But a fairly decent percentage are also referred through families. >> Ben Thwaits is one of their teachers. But before he came to the classroom, Ben already knew plenty about giving others the right perspective. >> I worked professionally for two years in photography. Being a nature photographer is still a really core piece of who I am. When I started the job at Northwest Passage as a teacher, I was always looking for ways to get nature photography into the classroom. >> A few years ago, Ben got a grant from the National Parks Foundation to do just that. >> Not a particularly ambitious proposal, just enough to get us a handful of cameras, and enough just to get the kids out, you know, once a week, and get them shooting photos. Then, probably in three or four weeks, we realized that we were onto something really special, because these kids started investing into their photography way beyond what I've ever seen in any other school program. They started taking truly astonishing photos. >> Ben called the program "In a New Light." And along with pictures of the world outside, the students started writing poems about the world within.

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>> I feel that this fish is like my little brother, always smiling and probably loves his mother. One day, this fish will end up in heaven. So will I. We'll be there together. >> I always wonder what the world would be like through the eyes of something as small as a dragonfly. >> Sometimes the only thing that can make you happy is a plain flower. You just need to view it in a special way and turn it into your sunny day. >> When I was a little kid, I used to see water push on rocks. When my mom and I were at the bridge, my mom said she wouldn't let me fall. >> This picture gave me a chance to realize the thing I had been missing out on in life. >> These pictures can be a door through which they can access their feelings, their hopes, their struggles, and to process their lives in a way that's way different than a therapist's couch. >> It's a way for me to express myself without actually talking to people, because sometimes I don't want to just talk to people. >> It's inherently therapeutic, just to spend time in nature. So what this project is doing is tapping into that inherent therapeutic element of time and nature. >> Students in the program have seen plenty of nature. While they spend most of their time along the St. Croix River, they've also traveled out of state, to National Parks like Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Park, all through grants from the National Parks foundation. >> We make a very conscientious effort to share their work with the world, keeping in mind that most of these young men and women have never been recognized for anything positive that they've ever done. The only recognition that they've got has been for things that they've done wrong. >> But Ben says maybe the traits that cause these students to stumble are the same traits that cause their work to shine.

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>> Think of, you know, what are the traits that kind of make these kids who they are. For one, they're often risk-takers. They're sensation-seekers. They don't necessarily respect convention. But if you think of, well, what are the traits of great artists? Well, they're risk-takers. They're sensation-seekers. They don't care what people think. They don't necessarily respect convention. So, I think that it's really, we're figuring out a way to harness the inherent characteristics in so many of these kids and translate them into a very, very positive outlook.