Learn the craft without paying for it, and pay it back in work. The Photography Class at no cost, in return for 24 volunteer days alongside a working studio.
IMARA Film is a working studio, and working studios need people who can actually shoot. The Talent Programme is how we find them.
Some of the people best suited to this work cannot put KES 9,000 on a table. That is a bad reason to lose them. So we take the fee out of the equation and ask for something we value more: time on real productions, where the craft actually sticks.
Places are limited and offered by application. Some experience in photography or video helps, but it is not required. What we look for is whether you will still be there on day 24.
The full Photography Class, five days, at no cost. That includes the instruction, the use of professional camera equipment during the course, and the course materials.
You receive the same instruction, the same equipment, and the same attention as paying students. We make no distinction during the course, and neither should you.
The programme covers the Photography Class. Our other courses are not part of it, though alumni get first refusal on them. More on that below.
In return you volunteer for 24 working days, to be completed within three months of finishing the course, at a minimum of two days per week.
The work is real work. Assisting on IMARA Film productions, photographing community projects, supporting later Academy courses, making content for our own channels, or whatever else we agree between us. Days are scheduled flexibly around the studio's production calendar and your availability.
Three months and 24 days is the part people underestimate. Read it twice before you apply.
You attend all five days of the Photography Class, in full and on time. No exceptions.
If you miss a single day, for any reason, the agreement is void. The course counts as incomplete, and the volunteer commitment along with the certificate, the reference, and alumni status all fall away. We are under no obligation to offer you the course again.
This sounds harsh, and it is deliberate. The seat you take is a seat someone else wanted, and the material builds day by day. If your life cannot guarantee five consecutive days, apply for a later course instead of this one.
Mineral water is included, as it is on every course. Lunch is not included for Talent Programme students. You can bring your own, or buy the on-site lunch for KES 300 or USD 2.50 per day.
We share lunch on site during the Photography Class so the group stays together and the afternoon starts on time, so we recommend eating with everyone else either way.
All equipment stays the property of IMARA Academy and IMARA Film, during the course and during your volunteer days. You are responsible for damage caused by negligence or misuse. Equipment is for scheduled sessions and is returned at the end of each day unless we agree otherwise.
Through both halves of the programme we expect you to treat the gear with care, follow instructions, and carry yourself professionally on set. You are standing next to paying clients.
Your certificate is issued once you have completed both halves: the Photography Class and the full 24 volunteer days. Not one or the other.
The certificate is verifiable. We will confirm your completion to any employer or institution that asks. On full completion you can also request a reference letter from us.
Finish the whole programme and you become alumni. Alumni get priority access to our later courses, including the Videography Class and the editing courses, at reduced cost or none, subject to availability.
Students who do not finish the volunteer period are not eligible for alumni benefits or for subsidised courses later.
If something genuinely beyond your control stops you finishing the volunteer days, illness, relocation, a family emergency, tell us as early as you can. We will work with you in good faith, which may mean extending the three months or adjusting the days that are left.
If you simply stop appearing and say nothing, we treat the agreement as unfulfilled. No certificate, no reference.
Photographs and video made during the course and your volunteer days may be used by IMARA Academy and IMARA Film for portfolio, website, social media, and promotion.
The photographs you personally make during the programme are yours to use in your own portfolio, with credit to IMARA Academy where that is reasonable.
Write to us through the contact form and choose the Talent Programme option, or message us on WhatsApp. Tell us who you are, what you have shot before if anything, and why you want this.
If we take you on, both sides sign the agreement below before the course starts. Read it first. It is three pages and it says exactly what is written on this page.
The course is five days. The commitment is 24 more. If both of those sound like something you want rather than something you tolerate, we would like to hear from you.
Apply NowIf you can cover the fee, book the course directly and skip the volunteer commitment. Same five days, same equipment, same instructors.
View the Photography Class