Bertrand Mathilde

Bertrand Mathilde is an Associate Professor in British Civilization at Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, specializing in the history of 20th-century British photography, activism, and community art projects. She holds a PhD from the university (2013) and is affiliated with the CLIMAS research laboratory. Her work explores intersections between photography, social movements, and cultural politics, with a focus on radical independent practices in the UK from the 1950s to 1980s.

Research interests include:

• Photography’s role in activism (e.g., miners’ strikes, Greenham Common protests)
• Community photography collectives (1970s–1980s)
• Decolonizing photographic archives
• Modernist photography transatlantic exchanges

Her publications include co-editing Contemporary Photography as Collaboration (2024) and contributing to journals like British Art Studies and LISA e-journal. She frequently presents at international conferences, focusing on topics such as community arts, photographic archives, and the political dimensions of visual culture.

Teaching spans British history from the 18th century to contemporary society, with specialized courses on British photography since the 1960s.