Photographer Discusses Creativity National Geographic’s Jones Notes ‘There’s More Than One Right Answer’

Maybe there is only one right answer on multiple choice tests.

But most of life’s problems have more than one solution, a National Geographic photographer told hundreds of school principals gathered in Spokane on Tuesday.

It’s a lesson Dewitt Jones says he learned during 25 years of watching the world change every time he switched camera lenses.

One frame can be good. The next, better. And the third, even better.

“There’s more than one right answer,” said Jones. “It is the key to creativity.”

Jones wrapped up a three-day convention of the Association of Washington School Principals at the Spokane Convention Center. About 460 principals met to discuss everything from discipline to education reform.

Jones used dozens of his photographs to illustrate the advantages of looking at problems from different angles.

A field of dandelions was transformed into a stunning shot when the photographer zoomed in on a single feathery flower silhouetted by the sun.

“Good frame … great frame,” said Jones, clicking from one slide to another. “You’ve got to believe it’s there.”

Taking a creative approach to problems doesn’t mean abandoning intellect, Jones said. Technique should be honed to perfection, then “put in league with your intuition.

“Creativity’s one of the best tools we have for dealing with change,” Jones said, “and I don’t know of any industry changing faster than yours.”

Jones listened to his own intuition early in life. He almost had attained a degree from Harvard Business School when he admitted that wasn’t what he really wanted to do at all. To his father’s dismay, he moved to Calfornia to study filmmaking.

As a motion picture director, he had two films nominated for Academy Awards before he was 30, Jones said.

His creativity also helped him in photographing national advertising campaigns for companies such as United Airlines and Dewar’s Scotch.

Creativity ultimately means listening, Jones also told the principals, who responded to his message with a standing ovation.

“It means listening with our intellect. It means listening with our intuition,” he said. “And ultimately, it means listening with our hearts.”

, DataTimes