Bertan Selim is the founder and executive director of the VID Foundation for Photography, which supports emerging visual storytellers from the Balkans with grants and mentorships. He studied linguistics, history and economics, and has a background in strategic management consulting in the arts, with a focus on institutions in the Netherlands, the Balkans and the MENA region.

In 2014, he helped set up the Arab Documentary Photography Programme (ADPP), a joint collaboration of the Prince Claus Fund, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the Magnum Foundation. He regularly gives lectures on photography and arts management at different art academies throughout Europe.

Bertan is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, and DokuFest in Kosovo. In 2022, he joined the Board of Directors at PhotoEvidence in the USA, and is a jury member for the Larnaca Biennial in Cyprus which will be held this year.