Narratives in Motion: The Evolution of a Storyteller at Firefly
Jennifer Uhlein’s solo show at The Firefly Artists in Northport Village presents a carefully curated selection of photographic works on view through the end of this month.
Artist Jennifer Uhlein, whose new collection of photography opened at The Firefly Artists in Northport Village on August 18, describes her work as not just images, but vessels. “Art should be lived with. It should be something that stops you in the middle of your day and reminds you to pay attention,” Uhlein said.
Her solo show “Narratives in Motion: Evolution of a Storyteller” presents a carefully curated selection of photographic works that explore the tension between stillness and motion, memory and material, light and permanence.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a reverence for process and presentation. Select images are printed on rare, discontinued Kodak metallic paper celebrated for its deep contrast, luminous vibrance, and a silvery sheen that seems to glow from within. Other works are finished with a soft silk surface, while several are produced using Max HD silver halide technology, an archival process where digital images are exposed onto light-sensitive paper using lasers or LEDs, then chemically developed to achieve true photographic depth and tonality.
Because Uhlein believes that meaning and accessibility don’t have to be opposites, that “they can, and should, meet in the same frame,” the works are offered as ready-to-hang framed prints, with prices that allow them to be both collectible and attainable, she said. Select images are also available in pre-matted and postcard-sizes formats.
A highlight of the exhibition is the debut of the Kerouac Series: six new works created in response to Jack Kerouac’s historical connection to Northport. The series was sparked by Uhlein’s participation in Kerouac: Words to Paper, an exhibition hosted by the Trinity Community Art Center earlier this year, where her piece earned first place and is on view as part of Northport Historical Society’s collection. From that recognition grew a deeper creative inquiry, culminating in a series of visual poems that echo the beat writer’s spontaneity, vulnerability and sense of temporal fragility, based upon a poem Uihlein wrote in her youth.
Inkless paper
Where are you now?
Underneath someone else’s thoughts.
Collectively, the series feels like pages torn from a visual journal, Uhlein said: fragmented but deeply intentional, embodying the restless spirit of Kerouac while grounding it in the physicality of light and paper.
The exhibition runs through August 31 at The Firefly Artists, 90 Main Street in Northport.
Wait, there’s more: As part of the exhibition weekend, Uhlein will debut Season 1 of her new vodcast, Unscripted: Artists Outside the Frame, with live recordings taking place from The Firefly Artists’ front window gallery on Saturday, August 23, and Sunday, August 24.
Created to uplift Long Island’s vibrant and often underrecognized creative community, the series features one-on-one conversations with artists who work beyond the boundaries of traditional institutions. These are makers who operate on intuition, resilience, and lived experience – artists outside the frame, Uhlein said.
“Unscripted is about giving voice to the people behind the canvas, the lens, the sculpture,” says Uhlein. “We need more spaces where artists can speak freely, where their stories matter as much as their process. This is about more than art – it’s about presence, truth, and connection.”
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