“I got the school’s Art Scholarship for Photography!!! It all started with my courses with you!”

Sarah, online photography sessions

Photography & Media | LONDON & CORNWALL & online

Future Creatives

Being our most popular age group for over twelve years we have developed a brand of visual arts teaching which keeps young teen’s energetically engaged through practice and communication. We find this age group enjoys the many art-ed experiences we present as an offset to an otherwise strong national STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) curriculum – we enable the Arts of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics). Through a self-expression and creative practice-driven syllabus your teen will improve observation skills, self-confidence and focus. Whether you are a homeschooling parent looking for adding variety to your child’s lesson plans or looking for alternatives to traditional learning structures which challenge attention span, we are here to help. We are all DBS certified, members of the International Visual Literacy Association, and have years of practical knowledge in the visual arts and teaching. Our all-inclusive non-discriminatory teaching methods are completely focused on the individual’s learning path, versed also in the wide range of SEND neurodivergent qualities and their intricacies. Our Parent and Student Feedback page is testament to the commitment – and enjoyment! – we make to your child’s learning and growing.


COURSES 2026 | In-person, LONDON

Saturdays term-time 2026: remaining Saturdays: July 4.
Summer holidays: each week from 13 July, ending 20 August


Online courses with live tutor | Sunday mornings, term-time (mostly), 10-11am:
Summer term 2026 Wednesday evenings: to be announced
plus 1 hour own research/1:1 live tutor review, to be arranged. 12 hours, plus 1 extra: £355 inc. VAT.
Wednesday evenings, 6.30-7.30pm, incl. own research/1:1 live tutor review. 12 hours, plus 1 extra: £355 inc. VAT.
Booking buttons to follow – please contact us to register your interest meanwhile!
All our online courses are held on Zoom, unless otherwise advised. We will send you a private link once you are enrolled.
All our in-person holiday courses start and finish at our meeting space in Covent Garden, London, unless otherwise advised.
For Cornwall courses please see the Cornwall section below: various locations, mostly West Cornwall.


 

PHOTOGRAPHY + CAMERA BASICS (beginners)


The fun begins at learning how to make images. Automation in mobile phones makes everyone a budding photographer – that’s the elephant in the room. Our students want more than a point and shoot experience and we deliver that. How do I photograph my dog in the dark? Why are my pictures not sharp? Do you think this is a good picture? In the Photography + Camera Skills courses we move away from automation and into thinking individually about making a photograph. Your child discovers the science behind the camera and light in a series of experiments through which the fundamentals of photography are revealed. And the fun begins!

2026 COURSES IN PERSON | LONDON
IMG_28071200PS

BEGINNERS Photography & Camera. LONDON in person.
Meeting and finishing in Central London!
Max. 6 students per group.
Course lengths vary between Saturdays term-time, holiday Monday-Thursday courses and those avoiding Bank Holidays: 12 hours total £355 inc. VAT, 9 hours £270 inc. VAT, 3 hours £89, pro rata for some courses. Custom courses/1:1s also available.
Free DSLR camera and lens loan, editing using Adobe software, certificate, is included as part of the course. Let us know and we will reserve a camera for you!


For Older Teens: 16-19 year olds’ courses – see here.




Beginners/Beginners Plus Teens Photography and Creative Media

Please see list below this on this same web page for our weekly summer courses running as follows (choose from mornings 10am-1pm or afternoons 2-5pm):

LONDON – Covent Garden:
Mon 13 July – Thursday 20 August
Monday 20 July – Thursday 23 July
Monday 27 July – Thursday 30 July
Monday 3 August – Thursday 6 August
Monday 10 August – Thursday 13 August
Monday 17 August – Thursday 20 August


CORNWALL, West Cornwall (various locations, near Lost Gardens Of Heligan and Penzance and more):
Monday 24 August – Thursday 27 August
(see towards bottom of page, in this colour)

Contact us to book for courses or with any questions: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.


SUMMER HOLIDAYS 2026 | LONDON 13 July – 20 August


With London as our backdrop, build your visual and technical photography and creative skills in our fun and fabulous courses for Teens!
Based in Covent Garden (back in the summer now the renovations are complete) we use this us our base to explore the city together (max. 6 per group). Come and join us for so much more than ‘just’ photography!


Week 3:
Monday 27 July – Thursday 30 July 2026 (27, 28, 29, 30 July) | LONDON
Mon 27 July – Thurs 30 July, 10am-1pm, MORNINGS, 12 hours. Max. 6 students per group. £355 inc. VAT

Mon 27 July – Thurs 30 July, 2-5pm, AFTERNOONS, 12 hours. Max. 6 students per group. £355 inc. VAT

Prices include VAT, free camera loan, lens loan, tripods, software, if applicable for the session/week.
Contact us to book for courses or with any questions: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.
All our in-person group courses, one-to-one training and online training can be used towards Extra Skills for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. We are a DofE Approved Activity Provider.


Week 6:
Monday 17 August – Thursday 20 August 2026 (17, 18, 19, 20 August) | LONDON
Mon 17 Aug – Thurs 20 Aug, 10am-1pm, MORNINGS, 12 hours. Max. 6 students per group. £355 inc. VAT
Fully booked.


Mon 17 Aug – Thurs 20 Aug, 2-5pm, AFTERNOONS, 12 hours. Max. 6 students per group. £355 inc. VAT
2-3 spaces available.

Prices include VAT, free camera loan, lens loan, tripods, software, if applicable for the session/week.
Contact us to book for courses or with any questions: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.
All our in-person group courses, one-to-one training and online training can be used towards Extra Skills for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. We are a DofE Approved Activity Provider.


Contact us to book for courses or with any questions: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.
All our in-person group courses, one-to-one training and online training can be used towards Extra Skills for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. We are a DofE Approved Activity Provider.
FREE camera loans as part of the course (Nikon and Canon DSLR): let us know and we will reserve a camera for you.
You will receive a certificate and any feedback you may need for school/college for what you have completed/learnt with us.
Adobe post-production editing is almost always a part of each of our courses after approximately 4 sessions/on the last day of 4-day holiday courses.


SATURDAYS TERM-TIME AUTUMN 2026 | LONDON – Beginners


Choose from mornings (10am-1pm) or afternoons (2-5pm).
In and around central London, max. 6 students per tutor. Location to be advised each week.
Book for sessions one by one as you go or book more for discount (Saturday dates for autumn term to be announced soon).

SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER SATURDAYS (Autumn term dates to be confirmed) – Beginners/Beginners Plus.
Book one Saturday at a time, PAY-AS-YOU-GO – as long as spaces available. Bookings taken on a first come first served basis.















 

wave2
Various Cornwall locations: e.g. Lost Gardens of Heligan, Tintagel Castle and beach, Lappa Valley steam train, Screech Owl Sanctuary, the Eden Project, St Michael’s Mount, Glendurgan Garden and its maze, beautiful Cornish harbours and towns, amazing nightskies if clear, and lots more. Locations vary each week, and we will do our best to coordinate with participants and discuss to liaise based on where you live/are staying.



SPECIALIST SUBJECTS – which will make up some of each course


EXPLORE CORNWALL | for locals and visitors alike, discover visual perspectives (and some edible ones along the way!) with street photography, documentary, portraiture and travel photography rolled into this course and revealing some of West Cornwall’s best kept secrets and venues.

CLOSE-UP MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY | Beachcombing with a camera: Explore with our lenses (free loan) the hidden details of rockpools to raven feathers, rare bees (few in winter, but they are slowly emerging now) and beetles if we’re lucky, and flowers, lichen, shells, seaweed and more galore on our beautiful Cornish coastal landscape!

SHOOT and EDIT/PHOTOGRAPHY and PHOTOSHOP: morning Street Photography, afternoon Photoshop & Lightroom edit and portfolio/collection building
Practise and perfect your photography skills (technical refresher included) with a range of subjects in and around the local area. Then review as a professional, picking the best to edit, and discover the magic of Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop (use our software, as part of the course) – and see the beauty of your images emerge beyond what you expected!

“ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY”: MUDLARKING and FORAGING TEXTILES PHOTOGRAPHY | With photography as your basis you build tactile visual creations: learn to print your pictures, then stick, build, sew, melt, stain and more, what we have collected together.

MOVEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY | How to capture movement: from waves, to wildlife, to windswept grasses blurring in your viewfinder. We cover a range of skills to capture movement in some fun and inspiring forms. You will quickly become confident in mastering your camera settings (review of all camera skills included) and capturing artistic and sometimes beautiful abstract forms.

ONE DAY PHOTOGRAPHY and EDITING – morning Street Photography, afternoon Photoshop & Lightroom edit (free loan software/laptop for the class) and portfolio building (based on the group’s interests). Great as a skills refresher as well as learn something new!

All our in-person group courses and one-to-one training can be used towards Extra Skills for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
We offer FREE LOAN DSLR cameras and other equpiment as needed – ring us to reserve/book.

We always love a chat, so give us a call! Contact us to book or with any questions: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.



From fake news to infographics, staged Instagram selfies to viral images of lawyers with cat avatars our children are growing up in an environment where the image continues to creep into our information forming networks. Understanding how reading images can affect how we feel or interpret society around us is a necessary part of our information gathering process. Moving from a text literate to a visual literate society is the next iteration in expanding our growth as communicators. Our brand of visual literacy courses for future creatives explores the act of seeing. Unlike the photography courses this is about deep seeing into photographs already made. Through games, puzzles and reading picture practice the course guides 12 – 15 year olds observe, feedback and expand on visuals placed in front of them in order to improve on observational and image reading skills and bring to their attention the influencing factors pictures can make.


Beginners Plus – Intermediate – Advanced levels, in CORNWALL:

Choose from: 10am-1pm, or 2-5pm, 12 hours £355 inc. VAT.
Max. 6 students per group.


Contact us to book for in-person or online courses/ while we update booking buttons: 0203 002 4991 / info@themangolab.co.uk.


OTHER TRAINING OPTIONS


ONE-TO-ONE / PRIVATE IN-PERSON TRAINING in person London and Cornwall, elsewhere by arrangement / online
*** Gift vouchers available – by post or email ***

Prefer to focus on your own, or have specific times or projects? Then we’re happy to accommodate!
This can include anything in our remit, from camera training to software, photo library organisation, mentoring for projects or exams, college/university entry, professional progression, and much more.

Custom times, personal expert tutor, catering exactly to your photography or software requirements.

All our in-person group courses and one-to-one training, online also, can be used towards Extra Skills for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.


ONLINE TRAINING

Custom times, divided over days, weeks or more: you let us know what works for you, how frequently, etc. We suggest sessions of 1-1.5 hours for most younger students, but choose how long you can focus for and we can play it by ear as we go. You can buy blocks of time and split them or pay as you go – we’re quite flexible!



Beginners / custom level


3 hours Beginners Photography & Camera online face-to-face training £135 inc vat.


6 hours Beginners Photography & Camera online face-to-face training £270 inc vat.


12 hours Beginners Photography & Camera online face-to-face training £540 inc vat.



Intermediate / custom level


3 hours Visual Literacy for Future Creatives online face-to-face training £135 inc vat.


6 hours Visual Literacy for Future Creatives online face-to-face training £270 inc vat.


12 hours Visual Literacy for Future Creatives online face-to-face training £540 inc vat.


We are always happy to answer your questions in detail by email, info@themangolab.co.uk, or do phone us to discuss on 0203 002 4991.
We’d love to hear from you!