Level 1 caters to students with basic photography experience who want to become visual journalists. It provides a solid foundation of practical skills, including camera control, fulfilling a brief for commissions, and writing captions. It also introduces good practices in ethics, research, video, social media, and running a solo business.

The particular course depends on their geographic location and first language, as the Level 1 courses are taught in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian. Each Level 1 course is an online 12-week seminar run by one of the foundation’s educators, frequently a contributing photographer. Each course enrolls 12 students after an application process, and the foundation runs at least nine Level 1 courses each year.