I was saddened when I heard about the passing of Gilles this week. When I joined the Radio, TV and Film Section at HQ back in 1979, Gilles was a respected member of the staff. He managed film distribution to country offices and national committees. Over time he took on other responsibilities, helping develop UNICEF’s video capacity and taking a major role in the establishment of a video library of programme titles and TV news footage. Gilles also participated in a number of field filming missions where his talents in still photography shown.
Gilles’ photo skills were memorable. His portfolio of New York life, vivid scenes of Paris and southern France were enjoyed by many on Facebook, etc. In retirement, he published a beautiful fine art book of his father’s photographs, a world class collection of in-depth portraits of major French movie stars from the nouvelle vague era.
Gilles was a gentleman and a talent. One of his photographs taken on a field mission is indelible in my mind — a little boy slumped, sleeping over a soccer ball. The boy, not even a teen, worked in a factory. If I remember correctly, this photo was on the cover of a UNICEF publication back in the late 80’s or early 90’s—possibly the State of the World’s Children Report.
Gilles will be missed by his family and many admirers.
It was lovely to hear from Bill Hetzer and his thoughts about our friend Gilles.I wish I had known Gilles better but during my time at UNICEF we only met around the buildings we were housed in…we stopped and chatted about football in Europe and also about photography…he was always friendly and interesting.Later he and Mike Clarke helped me choose a camera.His lovely wife worked in DHR and so my affinity and his had good roots.After we retired we kept up regular contact on facebook and I became a complete fan of his wonderful photography….he explained how he carried on his fathers work and I saw it in his Dads wonderful photos of famous movie stars. On one occasion I admitted to Gilles that I had wanted to photograph the new Grand Central before I left UNICEF…but ran out of time as well as opportunity.It was not a hint but he did probably take it as such and posted some really wonderful photos of Grand Central which are truly world class…..we were thereafter in regular contact till his passing… I will not ever forget Gilles….RIP friend…best Mike
ReplyDeleteVery sad news indeed. Gilles was a wonderful person and a very talented photographer. The iconic photo he took in Honduras of a young boy sitting asleep at a table, his rest resting on top of a pile of baseballs he had spent hours sewing, featured on the front page of the 1997 State of the World's Children Report. This photo perfectly symbolized the shameless nature of the most extreme forms of child labor and needed no comment or explanation. We will miss Gilles, the gentlemen and the great photographer.
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