Impact Photography Program, South Africa

Home / Penda Tours / Impact Photography Program, South Africa

Document important development work in Africa during an NGO photography workshop

If you’re a keen photographer with a passion for making an impact, we’d love to have you apply for our nonprofit photography workshop in South Africa! It’s a great opportunity to sharpen your skills, learn about the role photography can play to nonprofits, and document the work by inspiring social and environmental impact work. It’s also a unique way to travel, as you’ll have a fully immersive cultural experience. You’ll be guided by Anna Lusty, a professional humanitarian photographer, who will provide personal tutoring, introduce you to nonprofit photography, and support you throughout the experience.

You’ll be based in Stellenbosch, a town just outside of Cape Town, in South Africa’s stunning Western Cape. We’ll be visiting small charities in the surrounding communities; nonprofits that are doing impactful work on a grassroots level. The causes we photograph are varied and often include education, skill development, poverty reduction, gender equality, food security, animal welfare, and environmental initiatives. As a volunteer photographer on this program, you’ll help create a database of strong images for each organisation, so that they’ll have powerful visual tools for raising awareness of their cause.

This NGO photography program is a unique opportunity to explore what humanitarian photography can achieve, push yourself as a storyteller, and experience a travel destination in a truly different way. If you’re keen to apply, you can fill out our application form and share your portfolio with us.

Quick Facts

South Africa

May 4 - 18, 2025

Humanitarian

Photography Guide: Anna Lusty

Group Size: Max 8

Application Process

Tour & Destination Highlights

Learn about humanitarian photography; telling the stories of grassroots nonprofits through your lens
Document the work of various social impact organizations and allowing them to use your images to raise awareness for their cause
Learn from a seasoned humanitarian photographer, who will offer both theoretical and practical tutoring on a personal level
Build a unique portfolio of images, and grow as a photographer
Experience a travel destination in a truly unique way, connect with local communities, and learn about important social development work happening on a grassroots level

Quick Facts

South Africa

May 4 - 18, 2025

Humanitarian

Photography Guide: Anna Lusty

Group Size: Max 8

PRICING OVERVIEW

USD $3750GBP £EUR €ZAR RAUD $

USDGBPEURZARAUD

At the current exchange rate. Please note final quote might vary slightly

per person sharing

INCLUDING

Accommodation
Breakfast each morning
All transportation & Airport transfers
Photographic tutoring
Placements with the NGOs

EXCLUDING

Flights
Personal travel insurance

EXPLORE

Photography in South Africa

Faces and hugs I’ll never forget.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THIS PROGRAM

Your Photographic Experience

Cape Town and Stellenbosch are cities with many faces; they're filled with colorful cultures and rich in complex history. Surrounded by rugged coastlines, vast beaches and majestic mountains, the natural setting of these cities inspire awe. In all its splendid variety, this area is hugely photogenic. But many communities in the Western Cape deal with a great number of socio-economic issues, such as poverty, lack of education and health facilities, and gender equality issues. Many nonprofit organizations do amazing work in fighting these issues, though lack of resources and funding is often an issue. Through this program, we provide grassroots organizations with high quality images, so that they can use them for their communications and fundraising campaigns. Images are a powerful tool in telling the right stories, and if they reach potential donors, this can have a great impact. When you join our nonprofit photography program, you’ll be guided by humanitarian photographer Anna Lusty. She will guide you through theoretical workshops and practical photo shoots, and offer personalized tutoring. The workshops will allow you to improve your technical photography skills, and to gain a good understanding of the role of photography in the nonprofit sector. This will allow you to hone your skills, gain confidence, and document the work of NGOs in a way that will be culturally sensitive and effective for their communications and fundraising efforts. You’ll end up doing your own shoots for a variety of nonprofit organizations. This can include NGOs focused on skill development, food security, poverty reduction, female empowerment, education, animal welfare, and environmental development. You’ll spend your time getting to understand the organization’s mission and projects, before documenting their work with your camera. You can expect to spend about half of your time shooting, and the other half on post production. A selection of your images will be donated to the organization, and used by them for their fundraising purposes. REQUIRMENTS To join our NGO photography workshop, you'll need to have a good camera, a solid understanding of how to use your camera, and some photography experience. You by no means have to be a pro; you just need to know your way around your gear and editing software, and have a good understanding of what makes a strong image. Needless to say, you need to have a passion or photographing social impact projects. If this sounds like you, we'd love to see your application! UPCOMING WORKSHOPS We’re now taking applications for May 2025!DATES: May 4 - 18, 2025 Apply Now!

Feedback from our guests

Being there with Anna who works with nonprofits on a daily basis just solidified the fact that I need to follow in her footsteps in a way here in Canada. I was kind of living in a bit of a bubble for the past decade plus, and working in the communities and townships where there is so much need, beyond what I can even imagine, was really good for me. My bubble had burst and I needed that. There is so much need everywhere and if I can make even the slightest difference, then that is what I want to be doing.

Vanessa Evers

A big personal takeaway was learning to establish and build trust with your subjects and the people you work with. More than just the photography involved, I was really immersed with people’s stories and how I would want to best portray them through my lens. In a sense, this enables me to have a greater internal purpose and obligation with my work. Having Anna Lusty as my mentor grew my photography skills and knowledge immensely over the span of three weeks. Her acknowledgement of my growth as a photographer made me very proud to have joined this program.

Masato Kimati

This is an experience I’ll remember and will be of use to me for the rest of my life. Definitely something that has planted the seed of a mighty oak tree in me. Doing photography work in Africa has always been at the top of my bucket list. Additionally, my dream job is to be a photojournalist. That being a competitive field, I felt having this under my belt would really help me. Being able to help Zambians with something I was passionate about was also a huge bonus! I learned a lot about the ethics of how to talk to people and build rapport, getting shots that help further the client’s message, and why we don’t take pictures that would provoke pity for the people we’re trying to help. This program will help me in MANY ways! Just the experience of being in a totally new place so far from everything I know gave me invaluable skills and highlighted strengths I didn’t know I had.

Sunny Whipple

It was such an inspiring experience. I’ve definitely come along way not only as a photographer but as a whole, the experience really enriched me on a personal level. The opportunity to photograph things that most people would never get the privilege of; walking into rural communities and truly feeling welcomed and wanted there, engaging with the local people was something that maybe initially felt a little bit daunting but turned into the best part! Faces and hugs I’ll never forget. It’s definitely made me think harder about what I want to do in the future.

Heidi Hughes

Gallery

WORKSHOP LEADER

Anna Lusty

WORKSHOP LEADER

Anna Lusty

VIEW FULL PORTFOLIO

You’ll be guided by professional photographer Anna Lusty. Originally from the UK, Anna has lived and worked in South Africa for almost two decades. She splits her time between commercial and voluntary photography projects, and has many years of experience in documenting the work of charitable organisations. Anna is a strong believer of photography as a powerful tool for nonprofits to tell their stories and raise funds. She travels extensively for her nonprofit work, and her images have been used for websites, annual and donor reports, brochures and flyers, coffee table books for major donors and for specific campaigns.

VIEW FULL PORTFOLIO

EXPERIENCE

Your Time With Us

Week 1HELLO SOUTH AFRICA

You’ll arrive on a Sunday, and we’ll meet you by the airport and get you settled in at our accommodation. On Monday, we’ll start our workshop, guided by Anna. Until Friday, our days will be focused on all elements of nonprofit photography, including how to prepare for shoots, how to approach projects in a culturally sensitive way, and how to best capture the essence of projects in a way that will help raise awareness for their cause. Anna will also discuss the specific focus areas that you'll be working on; animal welfare, youth support, environmental projects, skill development programs, etc. The program will be a mix of theory-based learning, practical workshops during nonprofit photo shoots, and post-productions and discussions. Since we'll be working in small groups, the tutoring will be tailored to each person's individual level. Weekends are time off, and will give you an opportunity to relax or explore the gorgeous area you’ll be in.

Week 2NON-PROFIT PHOTOGRAPHY

During the second week, you’ll spend more time out on shoots with various nonprofits. We’ll assign you to organisations in small groups, and you’ll photograph their projects according to a brief. Anna will offer guidance, and there will be plenty of time for post-production and assessments. Saturday will be a day off again, and on Sunday, we’ll wrap up, say goodbye, and take you back to the airport.

Impact Photography Program, South Africa

Enquire

Tour Enquiry

african children surrounding a photographer who has been capturing their images for their NGO

At Penda, we're all about creating incredible photographic opportunities.

Our photo tours and safaris will take you to the right place, at the right time, to get that epic shot. You'll be guided by a professional photographer, who will help you take your photography to the next level, and we keep our trips exclusive by traveling in small groups. Whether it's in Kenya's sprawling savannahs, Yellowstone's snowy interior, or the jungles of India, your journey will be filled with photography magic.

WHY TRAVEL WITH US

Q&A with Anna Lusty, Humanitarian photographer

"It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning – I believe that it can really make a difference to individuals, organisations and their work. It is such a powerful tool to connect people to people." Discover more about our Photograhic Guide, Anna Lusty.

Popular Volunteering Photography Workshops

Where will your photography take you? Discover more of our Photography Volunteering programs and enjoy the chance to give back with your photo skills.

1 /