©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Aleksandra, Duality

I’m delighted to share the work of one of the most energetic, curious, and creative people I know. I discovered Ragne Kristine Sigmond after a particularly dark winter in Finland, when I was desperately looking for some light – both literally and figuratively. Browsing NORDPhotography’s workshops, I found a link to her TED talk showing how she creates portraits with flashlights. I thought, “This is exactly what I need to survive the next Nordic winter.” Norway was just a half-hour flight away, so I signed up.

That week at SAGA far exceeded my dreams. Ragne showed up with two suitcases overflowing with light sources and props, and a sense of fun and curiosity that was absolutely contagious. She brings her whole self to teaching – from morning editing sessions on color theory and composition, tips at lunch, to late-night light painting adventures outdoors. She shares her professional fashion lighting experience, showing us how simple flashlights can teach the same positioning principles as large studio strobes. I remember thinking, “I can sleep when I’m dead” because I didn’t want to miss a single moment!

What strikes me most is Ragne’s generosity. She shares everything – every technique, every discovery – both in workshops and on her Instagram feed where she regularly posts demos of her process. Seven years later, I’m still taking her online classes, planning a trip back to SAGA, still discovering new things, still catching her infectious enthusiasm for what’s possible in the dark. So grab your flashlight and prepare to see the world differently through Ragne’s eyes!

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Alesksandra

Ragne Kristine Sigmond is a Norwegian photographer and educator based in Aarhus, Denmark, known for transforming darkness into luminous imagery through pioneering light painting techniques. After a five-year apprenticeship in Arenda, Norway and graduating from Media College Denmark in 2003, she has taught lighting and image understanding at the same institution since 2006. Working in complete darkness with only a flashlight and long exposures, Sigmond builds images stroke by stroke, requiring patience from both artist and subject. Her work has earned the Norwegian Photography Prize (2017), three consecutive “Best in Class” awards at NFF competitions (2021-2023), and “Photographer of the Year” (2023). She was the primary photographer for Rudi Hass’s book about composition, “See her!”, and is completing a book of light-painted portraits exploring maternal resilience. She teaches internationally through NORDPhotography workshops.

Instagram: @ragnesigmond

An interview with the artist follows.

You’ve spent 15 years perfecting light painting. How did you discover this technique?

After moving to Denmark in 2006, I saw some of the work of the Danish photographer the fashion photographer Paolo Roversi and the Danish photographer Emil Schildt. The technique and the atmosphere in their work immediately fascinated me. When I discovered that I can “translate” everything I knew about light set up/ building up studio lighting into recreating the same complexity with a simple flashlight, I was hooked. I never looked back.

In the darkness, with just a flashlight and a camera on a tripod, I can paint scenes stroke by stroke, like a painter approaching a canvas. The technique is simple – illuminating subjects in dark environments during long exposures – but the possibilities are endless. I light paint people, landscapes, trees and still lifes. I move through the frame’s plane, building up the image with layers of light. It’s meditative and playful at once. When photographing models they have to sit perfectly still while I paint one area after another with light. It requires patience for everyone involved, but when it works, the results feel almost sculptural. Sometimes I also experiment with mixing light painting with studio strobe lights in portraits.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond,

You’ve achieved something quite extraordinary – winning “Best in Class” for Creative Portrait at Norwegian Association for Professional Photographers (NFF) competition for three consecutive years, then “Photographer of the Year” in 2023, and Gold for still life in 2024. When you first started exploring light painting 15 years ago, did you imagine it would become your signature—and that this experimental technique would sweep traditional photography competitions?

It still surprises me and went beyond my expectations! It’s not typically what wins at professional photography competitions, and as an interesting consequence I was, in the following period, invited to hold light painting workshops for NFF-members in all corners of Norway. I love keeping in touch with the industry, travelling and visiting my beautiful home country, so that was a lovely outcome. In 2023, my photos were accepted across four different categories in the same competition, and the four with the best scores went to the final. I won gold, two silver, and a bronze. These are all in-camera work, which only requires fine editing in post-production.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Camilla

You describe light painting as “vitamins” for your photography. What do you mean?

At school, I teach professional lighting – technical, precise, commercial work. That’s important, but light painting is different. It’s my creative vitamin, what keeps my love for photography alive. People ask me if I have time for all this, and I say, not really, but it’s so important for my well-being to feed myself with creative challenges regularly. I call the light painting process “slow photography.” From non-existence, I draw the subject out from darkness during a long exposure time. Light stroke after light stroke, I shape and form every part of the motif. I only need my flashlight.  The outcome is never to anticipate, and that is one of the most exciting parts of the light painting process. The technique takes some time to practice,  but depending on how I paint from exposure to exposure the motive varies. It’s like being on an investigative journey. I also but I enjoy that the setup takes so little time to prepare.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Cosmina

You’ve been generous in sharing your technique through workshops internationally. Why is teaching so important to you?

Photography shouldn’t be about guarding secrets. I’ve taught workshops at SAGA, through NORDPhotography, and now online courses that run six weeks from April through May. Each time I teach, I also learn. When we share techniques openly, we elevate the entire field. Besides, light painting isn’t about copying someone else’s technique – it’s about finding your own dialogue with darkness and light.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Emma

After teaching at Media College Denmark since 2006, what keeps you passionate about education?

Teaching image understanding and lighting to new generations keeps me curious. Students force me to articulate what I do intuitively. Their fresh eyes remind me to stay playful. My students help me avoid that stagnation – they challenge me to see my own work differently.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Lana

Your work has appeared in several books, most notably as the main photographic contributor to Rudi Hass’s “Se her!” Tell us about your relationship with book projects.

“Se her!” (LOOK!) was a massive undertaking-500 pages about image composition for photographers and other image creators. Rudi Hass wrote the text, and I did the majority of photographs that illustrated the compositional principles. It was released in the Scandinavian market in 2012 and became something of a textbook for understanding how images work. It’s recently available as an eBook now as well.
The light-painted portraits shown in this post are part of a recently published book of portraits “Kaleidoskopisk portrætfotografi” (Kaleidoscopic Portrait photography) featuring four female photographers over three generations and different styles, all resident in Denmark.
However, what I’m most excited about is a book I’m working on featuring mothers and children. These mothers have faced real challenges-breast cancer, loss, trauma – and yet there’s such strength in their bonds with their children. The light-painting technique transforms these portraits into something beyond the documentary. When you paint light onto a mother holding her child, stroke by stroke in darkness, you’re literally illuminating their connection. The light painting technique adds something ethereal to these relationships, making visible the strength and tenderness that might otherwise go unseen.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Lena

What else is ahead for you?

I also have my tree series that you’ll see more of soon – those luminous, sculptural trees that transform Nordic forests into something otherworldly. When light painted, they stand out from their otherwise invisible appearance during the day into fascinating sculptures at night. I always look for trees with a shape of a mood. A sad tree, a wise tree, youthful, majestic, etc. Feelings we mirror as humans.
I’m continuing my online and in-person workshops at SAGA in Norway, which connect me with photographers worldwide. And always, I’m out there with my flashlight, discovering what darkness can reveal. Because technique alone never carries a photograph – it’s the playfulness, the dedication, the willingness to see differently that matters.

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Magni

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Nino

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Self Portrait

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Self Portrait with Banana Leaves

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Sara

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Simon Mirrored

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Thula

©Ragne Kristine Sigmond, Victor

Additional notes:

eBook on composition: https://ihavebeenframed.dk/

Prize 2017: https://norskefagfotografersfond.no/fotografiprisen/2017-2/

Translated from reasons to why I received the price from the Norwegian professional photographers’ fund. (only handed out every 2nd year)

Ragne Sigmond receives the Photography Award 2017 for her distinctive visual language and highly personal technique, but technique alone will never carry a photograph. Sigmond’s universe is characterized by playfulness and dedication as well as her willingness to seek the ultimate consequence through years of perfection without stagnating in her own path. The jury also emphasizes and praises Sigmond for her many years of involvement as a mediator of the photographic profession and through lectures, talks and workshops where she generously shares her knowledge and technique.