CIEE HS Summer Abroad in Gaborone: Photography & Culture

Spend your summer telling incredible visual stories, photographing one of Africa’s most extraordinary landscapes!

Discover how to use photography to tell powerful stories about culture, community, and the natural world. Botswana offers an incredible setting for this work, where vibrant local life and world-renowned ecosystems exist side-by-side. Working with other Global Navigators, you’ll create a photo essay project that captures the stories you uncover.

In hands-on classes and guided fieldwork, you’ll build technical photography skills while creating an incredible portfolio. Take part in creative exchanges with local students, photograph wildlife in the Okavango Delta, and conduct photo-documentary interviews with locals. You’ll wrap up the program by participating in a photography exhibition at a local gallery, learning all the details from layout to captions and promotion, and presenting your own work.

You’ll have time to experience daily life in Gaborone. Attend a traditional braai (a Tswana-style barbecue shared with local families) and a live music session featuring marimbas, drums, and thumb pianos. By the end of your program, you’ll leave with a deeper understanding of how photography connects to culture and community—and how it can shape your future interests and goals.