©Mary Pat Reeve

 As both scientist and artist, she understands that sometimes the most profound discoveries happen when we choose what to illuminate and what to leave in shadow—a lesson learned in the long Nordic nights where light becomes precious, intentional, and transformative.

Scientist and photographer Mary Pat Reeve has been creating work at night, when most of us have turned out the lights and drifted into slumber. Today we feature her night work (and she shares two additional light painting artists tomorrow and Wednesday), but I wanted to start off the post and the month of December with this exquisite beauty. It’s truly a magical image. With her scientific background, it makes perfect sense that she continues to experiment with light and shadow. Reeve has created work in Finland, Japan, and the United States, with an uncanny ability to create magic after dark.

An interview with the artist follows.

©Mary Pat Reeve

Mary Pat Reeve studied biology at MIT and has lived in Darwin and Melbourne, Australia and Helsinki before returning to Boston. Her work exploring light and darkness has been exhibited internationally, including at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Cyan Gallery Oslo, and the Karuizawa Photo Festival. She continues to study with Norwegian photographer Ragne Sigmond while developing her book project on magical portals in everyday moments.

Instagram: @mpreeve_shutterstory

©Mary Pat Reeve, Japanese Garden

Light as Laboratory: A Scientist’s Journey in Finnish Darkness

Mary Pat Reeve’s photographic journey reads like a map of light across continents—from a childhood farm in upstate New York to the endless summer days and profound winter darkness of Finland. A geneticist by day, Reeve transforms into an alchemist of light by night, carrying forward a tradition she discovered during four transformative years living in Helsinki while working on the FinnGen genetics project.

“Our family had a ‘sun sightings’ group chat that once went six weeks without a posting,” Reeve recalls of Finnish winters where the sun rises at 9:30 AM and sets by 2:30 PM, but usually hidden behind clouds. Rather than succumb to the darkness, she embraced it as creative territory, discovering NORDPhotography’s community in Norway and studying light painting with Ragne Sigmond at SAGA. “Playing with light became a way to get out and enjoy the local surroundings, whether it was light painting trees or throwing boiling water up on the frozen ocean at sunset.”

This experimental spirit—perhaps inevitable for someone who spends her days unraveling genetic causes of disease—manifests in work that ranges from illuminated cherry blossoms with her violin-playing daughter to recreations of classical paintings using only flashlights and long exposures. Her American Gothic-inspired self-portrait and pandemic-era piano trio speak to both humor and isolation, while her series of nighttime forest paths and overgrown greenhouses suggest portals to what she describes as “that magical world just out of reach.”

Reeve’s approach is deliberately minimal: an Olympus OM-1 Mark II with its unique ability to layer new light sources without overexposure, two small rechargeable flashlights, and a carbon-fiber tripod light enough for international travel. Exposures can stretch to five minutes, transforming the act of photography into meditation. “When I light-painted the Suwa Shrine in Karuizawa, Japan, it was a beautiful foggy night and it felt magical to spend time there and appreciate all the details, much more mystically than it might have in daylight.”

The influence of Nordic culture permeates her practice—not just technically through Sigmond’s mentorship (which continues through online classes), but philosophically. “Finns are so comfortable in the dark, you might see neighborhood friends out for a snowlit walk at 9 PM,” she notes. This comfort with darkness, combined with Nordic design’s spare aesthetic and the Finnish concept of getting outdoors in all weather, shaped a body of work that finds illumination in the most unlikely moments.

Her images have found homes in juried exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography (selected by curators from the Getty, MFA Houston, and Center for Photographic Art), the Cyan Gallery in Oslo as part of NORD’s mentor group exhibition, and the Karuizawa Photo Festival in Japan. Yet for Reeve, the work remains deeply personal: “Photography unites my life. It is the story of our family for generations. Memories as it felt to be there. Capturing the magic inside us we all wish was real.”

Now back in Boston, Reeve continues her nocturnal experiments, viewing night photography not as limitation but liberation. As both scientist and artist, she understands that sometimes the most profound discoveries happen when we choose what to illuminate and what to leave in shadow—a lesson learned in the long Nordic nights where light becomes precious, intentional, and transformative.

©Mary Pat Reeve

How did you come to light painting?

We lived in Helsinki, Finland for four years while I worked on the FinnGen genetics project, and during that time I discovered NORDPhotography in Inderøy, Norway. I first did a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia with Cig Harvey as the teacher—from Helsinki, St. Petersburg is an easy train ride, only about four hours door-to-door! I really grew from the experience and was intrigued when they offered a week-long class with Ragne Sigmond at SAGA. When I looked at Ragne’s work, I loved the playfulness and creativity of it and eagerly set off for a week at SAGA.

I have always enjoyed the way sunlight chooses something to light up—it could be that it looks like sunlight has turned on a street lamp or the way it highlights a few leaves on a bough, or a lightbeam chooses something in your yard to illuminate that you had totally forgotten about. In a way, light painting gives you the control of a sunbeam and can also teach you a lot about lighting angles.

©Mary Pat Reeve

How did the Finnish winters influence your work?

I grew up in Syracuse, NY and was used to snow and cold, but living in Finland the dark and gloom was really a challenge. Although the sun in winter rises around 9:30 AM and sets around 2:30, it is often covered by clouds. As I mentioned, our family had a “sun sightings” group chat that once went six weeks without a posting. Playing with light became a way to get out and enjoy the local surroundings, whether it was light painting trees or throwing boiling water up on the frozen ocean at sunset.

Finnish culture put me back more in touch with nature and getting outdoors in all weather, and a certain spareness in design seemed to have filtered in. Finns are so comfortable in the dark—you might see neighborhood friends out for a snowlit walk at 9 PM. Helsinki also celebrated the dark nights with their Lux festival, which we enjoyed each year.  A couple hours of walking through all different light displays throughout the city.

©Mary Pat Reeve

How does your scientific background influence your photography?

I’m a scientist by day, and often nights are the only time I have to enjoy photography, so even now that we’ve moved back to Boston, I still look to light painting to fill my creative well. I think there is an experimental aspect to light painting that meshes well with a scientific research mind. In my genetics work I reveal new facets of what causes disease and how common biological mechanisms can lead to different diseases. It’s a stretch, but I guess light painting gives me a way to create new perspectives as well.

©Mary Pat Reeve

Can you describe your process?

Light painting is very meditative—it helps you slow down. When I light-painted the Suwa Shrine in Karuizawa, Japan, it was a beautiful foggy night and it felt magical to spend time there and appreciate all the details, much more mystically than it might have in daylight.

If I can, I’ll often scope out the scene in the day and think about where to place the tripod for framing. Typical exposures can be 3-5 minutes. I use mostly an Olympus OM-1 Mark II which works by taking a baseline image and then adding only new light sources in subsequent shots, preventing the rest of the scene from overexposing. This proprietary Olympus feature gives you an opportunity to slow down compared to a typical long exposure and also lets you see how it’s developing on the LCD. Other than that, I bring two small rechargeable flashlights and a very light carbon-fiber tripod.

©Mary Pat Reeve

What are you working on now?

When I returned from Japan, I was really inspired by gardens and blossoming trees, and the neighborhood trees were blooming so I did a series of photos there. I placed my daughter in those playing violin as music is nearly as ephemeral as cherry blossoms, and also childhood of course.

I’m working on a book that uses some light painting and some regular photography to illustrate the sort of magical world just out of reach—that feeling that a magic portal could open through a mundane moment. 

©Mary Pat Reeve

How has your connection with Nordic photography continued?

I continue to join Ragne’s online classes for refreshers and inspiration. One of the assignments she gives us is to create our own take on a painting, which has been a wonderful creative exercise. These posts could be considered matryoshka nesting dolls—my experience with light and life in Finland, the community of NORDPhotography, and Ragne Sigmond’s amazing work and teaching.

Photography unites my life. It is the story of our family for generations. Memories as it felt to be there. Capturing the magic inside us we all wish was real. It is a form of experimentation with light, lenses and time. It is documentation of our days.

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve

©Mary Pat Reeve