Our Mission
The goal of Sweetwater Visions® is to increase awareness of the beauty, interconnectedness, power, fragility, and rich heritage of these Sweetwater Seas. With the Great Lakes ecosystem as a primary focus, we explore universal themes and connections that apply to the entire planet.
About John & Ann Mahan
Photographers, Writers, Educators
The Great Lakes ecosystem is a muse for artists John and Ann Mahan, one they return to over and over again in their work. As photographers and writers they specialize in a wholistic view of natural systems. This wholistic viewpoint arises from a synthesis of science and spirituality, ethics and ecology, human and natural history.
Previous professional endeavors include more than a decade each in health professions: Ann as a registered nurse (medical-surgical, obstetric, and psychiatric nursing, and clinical instructor in a B.S. nursing program); John as a physician assistant in family medicine, with experience in pharmaceutical clinical research, and medical laboratories. But in the early 1980s they embarked on a career together that focuses on the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Widely published, their credits include: Audubon, Backpacker, National Geographic, National Wildlife, Natural History, Newsweek, Outdoor Photographer, Outside, Sierra, Smithsonian, and many others. They are the authors and photographers of the books Lake Superior: Story and Spirit and Wild Lake Michigan. Over 200 of their color photographs are featured in the book The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. They also designed and published the book Discovering the Penokees.
As authors and publishers of Lake Superior: Story and Spirit, John and Ann received Lake Superior Magazine's Achievement Award.
According to the United States Postal Service, this image “played a significant role in the development of the Postal Service's stamp displaying the St. Joseph, Michigan lighthouse. The stamp is part of the ‘Great Lakes Lighthouses’ series of stamps, initially publicized in 1995.”
The couple produce multi-media shows for public presentation, including “Great Lakes Lighthouse Odyssey,” “Lake Superior: Story and Spirit,” “Isle Royale and Beyond,” “Wild Lake Michigan,” and “North America’s Freshwater Seas.” Three of these programs are also available on DVD for in-home use on small screens: “Lake Superior: Story and Spirit,” “Isle Royale and Beyond,” and “Great Lakes Lighthouse Odyssey.”
From 2002 to 2019, John and Ann were leaders/instructors for "Isle Royale and Lake Superior" Road Scholar (Elderhostel) courses. The COVID-19 pandemic closed courses from 2020-2022; beginning in 2023, John and Ann offer these lifelong learning courses through Sweetwater Visions.
The Mahans' fine prints decorate homes, libraries, hospitals, schools, universities, and businesses. Their photographs hang in the U.S. Senate and in permanent collections of two U.S. Embassies.
When not out on the water, in the forests, or on the islands, the Mahans live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin’s Lake Superior watershed. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Kristen, who traveled with them for many years as they were growing up and now embark on their own adventures with their families.
John and Ann Mahan
Isle Royale National Park