Gilbert Bertrand (1938–) was born in Saint-Vallier, France, to a modest family, with his early life shaped by the World Wars. After high school, he began his career as a military aid worker and schoolteacher in Algeria, sparking a lifelong curiosity about different cultures. He later taught in Vietnam, holding significant roles at French cultural institutions in Dalat, Saigon, and beyond, until the reunification in 1975. Subsequently, he served as a cultural attaché in New Zealand, the U.S., China, and Indonesia, promoting French language education and cultural exchange.A passionate photographer, Bertrand documented indigenous communities in Algeria and Vietnam. His collection from 1970–1975, including portraits of Annam mountain tribes, Saigon street scenes, and most notably the Vietcong's 1975 entry prior to the Fall of Saigon, is historically and aesthetically significant. These gelatin silver prints offer a personal perspective, setting his work apart from other ethnographic and wartime photography and preserving a unique visual narrative of Vietnam’s transformative years.