Gilbert Bertrand

Gilbert Bertrand was born on 2 June 1938 in Saint-Vallier, in France’s Drôme region. Raised in a modest family shaped by the hardships of the world wars, he developed from an early age a strong curiosity about distant places and other cultures.

After completing his secondary education in 1957, Bertrand began his career as a teacher. He completed his military service in Algeria from 1959 to 1962, then joined a civil service mission as a primary school teacher in Tamanrasset, where he taught until 1970. This experience deeply influenced him, strengthening both his vocation for teaching and his commitment to sharing the French language.

In 1970, Bertrand was posted to Vietnam by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he taught in Danang and later trained as a specialist in French as a foreign language. In 1972, he became Pedagogical Coordinator at the French Institute in Dalat, then in Saigon, where he remained until the reunification of Vietnam in 1975.

He then continued his international career as Deputy Cultural Attaché in Wellington, New Zealand, from 1975 to 1980, where he helped launch a nationwide program for French instruction and trained local teachers. He later served in New Orleans from 1980 to 1984, before returning to Paris to work at the French Ministry of Education from 1984 to 1986. His diplomatic and cultural service continued in Beijing, Washington, D.C., and Jakarta, where he held senior positions until retirement.

Alongside his professional life, Bertrand pursued photography with passion. His portraits of tribal communities in Algeria and Vietnam are distinguished by their sensitivity and authenticity. His street photographs of Saigon in 1974 and 1975, especially during the entry of North Vietnamese troops, form a rare and moving historical record of a pivotal moment in Vietnam’s history.