About
A WORK IN PROGRESS
“Understanding the role creativity plays in my life has been the single most significant insight I have ever had. The realisation that I could play out my inner landscape on the outside and see it objectively changed my life. I have never been happier.” – Alister Benn
The snakes and arrows a child is heir to
Are enough to leave a thousand cuts
We build our defenses, a place of safety
And leave the darker places unexplored
– Neil Peart
Alister Benn is a Scottish artist, writer, musician and educator. For over 20 years he has been exploring the relationship between our personality, creative identity and the pressures of societal expectation. In 2021 Alister was made a Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society in recognition of his Out of Darkness series, which examines the perspective of mental health and personal development implicit in desert abstracts.
Alister divides his time between developing learning material for his company Expressive Photography, continuing his own creative and emotionally expressive output; be it writing, photography or music, and trail running in the mountains around home.
Alister lives on the far west of Scotland in a remote village with his Norwegian wife and Expressive Photography co-founder Ann Kristin Lindaas.
The Project
EVOLUTION
From the deepest depression to a life of balance, acceptance, joy and simple self-actualisation, Out of Darkness has been a life-changing journey. Over 5 years in the making, to call it ‘my life’s work” may sound over-stated, but I now know my path, my purpose and my passion. If I can change one life, in addition to my own, then I have saved a person from pain.
THE MEANING OF A LIFE.
The Out of Darkness project is an evolution of art, books, writing, self-development resources and music aimed to catalyse an individuals relationship with themselves. Each of us is a work in progress, with shared fears, anxieties and doubts. Imagining a better future.
Out of Darkness
FINE ART PHOTO BOOK
The Out of Darkness photo book is the centrepiece of the whole project; a combination of 133 photographs and a deeply personal and emotional text. Additional forwards by renowned photographers William Neill and Joe Cornish. The book will printed in Italy on the finest paper and self-published.
