Light matter interactions in nanoscale ferroelectric materials have received growing interest over the last years due to new developments in scientific instrumentation and novel materials that allow for the study of so far scarcely investigated and/or hidden nanoscale phenomena. Here we provide an overview of these developments and investigations that have been carried out over a broad range of frequencies spanning from the X-ray to the THz regime. Of interest are the physical quantities and fingerprints stemming from nanoscale regions in ferroelectrics, including domain walls, upon light illumination. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.