14/08/2026
From 5 September – 3 October, Photo London exhibitor Messums presents Chasing Light, a curated selection from the personal archive of British art historian, teacher and photographer Jethro Lyne (1971–2020).
Featuring original titles written by Lyne himself, the exhibition brings together photographs taken between 2016 and 2020 — the final four years of his life, during which he quietly developed an extraordinary body of work that was largely unseen beyond his close circle of family, friends, students and colleagues.
From the Dorset countryside and the French Alps to Bournemouth piers, London’s waterways and museums, Welsh architecture, Sydney Harbour, Pisa, Florence and Barcelona, Lyne’s photographs reveal an instinctive sensitivity to light. Returning to the enduring themes of nature, architecture and people, he found poetry in the everyday: a lone ski track across a mountain, tractor marks through a field, light falling through a window or a fisherman preparing his rod.
Lyne considered himself an amateur photographer, but his remarkable eye for composition tells another story. Influenced by photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson and Weegee, his images combine observation, timing and an understated sense of humour, creating sensitive narratives from the intimate moments of life away from home.
Best known for his career as an art historian, medievalist and inspiring teacher, Lyne worked across the UK, Russia and Australia, including positions at the National Art School and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Chasing Light offers a rare opportunity to discover the photographer behind the scholar — and to see a deeply personal archive brought into public view for the first time.
Chasing Light
5 September – 3 October 2026
