Photojournalist Gilles Caron's life and disappearance, bearing witness to conflict

One of the most important photojournalists of the second half of the 20th century, Gilles Caron reported from scenes of conflict. His career was cut short when he disappeared in Cambodia in 1970. As Bryan Meehan showcases a number of works from his time in Northern Ireland in 1969 at The Park Hotel, Gemma Fullam meets the artist’s daughter, Marjolaine, to discuss an extraordinary life

Manifestation des catholiques pour la défense de leurs droits, Ulster. August 12, 1969. Pic: Gilles Caron

France was already six years into its war with Algeria when journalist Gilles Caron was drafted into the French army. During his two years serving as a paratrooper in Algeria — from July 1960 to April 1962, two months of which he spent in a military prison for refusing to fight — he wrote daily to his mother Charlotte, whom he affectionately called Mame, often sending several letters in a day. 

In them, he recounted stories of what he was witnessing and his thoughts about a war to which he was opposed. One line from this cache of letters provides a valuable contextual insight into Caron’s future motivations and actions. He writes: “I can’t understand how I’m not hidden away in a department in Algiers. Well yes, I know, I wanted to see…”.