BIO: Alister Benn lives and works in a secluded Glen on the west coast of Scotland with his wife Ann Kristin. He takes pleasure in sharing his thoughts with others, through his eBooks, video series and mentorships. There is even a chance of face to face workshops again! He is mildly obsessed with watching birds!

By 5am the first light of dawn is filtering into our bedroom. I awake from a troubled night; achy restlessness and odd flashback dreams leave me feeling foggy, but I get up and dress quickly, stashing an energy bar in my down jacket and head out into the dawn.

On a regular work week, when I am committed to zoom sessions and numerous other tasks, I walk the shore of the sea loch; a quick 5km dash before the day starts. This morning I don’t have such a time restraint and I head into the woods behind the house and start climbing the hill with a longer hike in mind. It’s cold, with a hard frost on the grass and my breath fogging the air in front of me.

The air seems crisp and clear, but some clouds over the north western hills threatens precipitation, and before long a few flakes of snow are melting on my jacket. The song of birds surrounds me; a male bullfinch, goldfinches, song thrushes and the chatter of siskins. Every birch tree has a willow warbler in it; tiny insect feeding birds that winter in Sub-Saharan Africa and make their annual trip north for our midge-frenzied summer season. As the sun breaks the ridge, the incongruous mix of hard sparkling frost and willow warblers seems odd to me: It is early May after all! One of today’s target birds is tree pipit and soon enough I find one (in a tree!) – it’s characteristic tail-pumping a welcome sight.

As I make my way up the glen beside the river I am truly alone; it’s not even 6:30 yet and I am on a mission to clear the edge of the oak woods north of our home. The path climbs steadily and I just soak up the calm stillness of dawn.

As is normal for me, my mind wanders. I seem to be at my best when I don’t steer my thoughts, allowing them to drift, quickly focus, then dissolve again. In allowing this day-dreaming meander through my subconscious, I often stir up buried ideas, or make connections between others. I guess day-dreaming serves the same purpose as night dreaming? Sifting through my filing cabinet of the soul!

As I gain altitude spring seems to drop away behind me, especially in the shadowy slopes below the pine trees. Fresh growth is abundant, but there is still space between the leaves, and there is a true sense of transitional texture. I only have my iPhone with me, but take a few record snaps as something urges me to. Should I have my big camera with me? The endless question of the driven artist! I begin to ponder the concept of product, or the concept of producing something. Typically I guess we make products to be consumed by someone else, especially in art; as we ourselves do most of our consuming in the field, which doesn’t rely on an image to validate the experience.

A title comes into my mind “Thoughts on Productivity” and I note it down on my phone. These little snippets must be written down, or they vanish like a neutrino through a latte!

Over the last couple of weeks since I started to make my statements about pulling back from social media and posting less content, I have had huge amounts of support from the community. It seems I am not alone in questioning the purpose of our output and where the real value lies. So, here are some thoughts on productivity!

Manufacture, commerce, business, the arts, education, life?! We seem really focussed on the concept of productivity. We have to add value, sustainable growth, development and progress. Photography is driven by the concept of product: The photograph! You all know I love photography, and I consume photo books with passion, and I am working on my own now; Out of Darkness. But, is the book the product? Is each individual photograph the product? The words that come into my head as I walk the spring oak woods of Scotland are a product, just as I myself am a product.

We are all products; of nature and nurture, of socio-economic realities, of our drives, ambitions and weaknesses. The rise of the summer sap and the elevation of my soulful energy are synonyms, I recognise both the good and the bad of myself in the nature around me.

What is a photograph? Is it the product of planning, being in the right place at the right time, or having the skill to process it “just so?” All of the above, or none are probably equally valid. As I finally pop out the end of the oak woods and gaze across the mountains beyond I come to the conclusion that photographs only exist as a result of every moment we have ever existed before we made it. Not the moment of engagement, or processing, but the culmination of every thought, idea, fear or anxiety. We are the product!

We are the product of living, thinking, dreaming and denying. We are the product of the well worn trail, or the path less trodden. We are the soul of art and the art of soul. If I want to focus on my creativity and my art, I need to work on me; the product! Photographs come from me, and in a beautiful moment of symbiosis, they feed back to me; telling me their stories of hidden insights and metaphors. As I externalise a lifetime of living I see the lines of my ageing eyes in the gnarled oak trunks, yet fresh buds still sprout from those tired old branches. The wind gently rustles the embryonic life, the energy of the sun urges them on; follow the light, rise up.