Adventure Tours in Stellenbosch, South Africa

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.

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.

I took the NGO photography program because it has a combination of things that are close to my heart and have my keen interest: giving back, Africa and its people, improving my skills in photography and discovering new places (this program allowed me to discover places I would never have visited as a tourist). The program was truly enriching. First, the program definitely helped me advance as a photographer. The teacher Anna was great! She's a professional humanitarian photographer and really makes you experiment. I learned a lot about different aspects of photography; technical aspects, but also how to make a connection with people before taking pictures so that the character of the person transpires in the picture. Second, it made me 'richer' as a person because I had the opportunity to see many different sides of Cape Town, meet lovely people and better understand the societal complexities (and beauty!) of South Africa.

I had the most educating and in depth experience with Penda Photo Tours. There was never a moment where I felt like I knew to little or that I wasn't supposed to be there, they really do teach you so much about Photography and make sure that you know it's okay to make mistakes. The Organizations we visited really stole my heart, everyone was so warm and nice, I wish I could be apart of this program forever.