A Photographic Safari of Northern Lakes Presentation at the MAC

Jim Arnold, who also signs his work J. H. Arnold, grew up on Blue Lake in northern Wisconsin. He started snorkeling at eight with a dime-store mask and fins, and he still photographs local lakes with an underwater camera. He was artist in residence at the UW-Madison Limnology Centers Trout Lake Station in 2019, and he has given similar talks at the Northlakeland Discovery Center and Nicolet College.

The presentation covers what most of us never see from shore: plants swaying in the shallows, mussels, sponges and fish. Lunch is served as part of the program, so it has a relaxed, midday feel. Arnold's earlier talks on this subject were built around the same idea, that much of what matters in a lake is under the surface.

Few local programs go this deep into the life of northern lakes, and Arnold has spent decades looking at them from the water. He is a working nature photographer whose images have appeared in Lake Superior Magazine and the Wisconsin Rustic Roads Guide. For anyone curious about the lake outside their door, it is a worthwhile outing in Manitowish Waters.