Baader-Meinhof? I’ve been seeing a lot of that lately?

Your friend tells you about an obscure “mathcore” band they’ve only just discovered.

Later that afternoon, you stumble onto one of their albums as you flick through vinyl at your local record store. Then you see a poster for their upcoming tour through the train window on your way home that evening. Hang on a minute, that’s them playing in that car commercial on TV, too!

Coincidence? More likely, you’re experiencing “frequency illusion,” also known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

The term was coined to describe a concept or a thing you just found out about, suddenly popping up everywhere.

Something I learned today
Black and white is always gray
Hüsker Dü – Something I Learned Today

Now, Shelly’s “the basics” series aren’t necessarily concepts I’ve only just heard about. At the risk of tarnishing my “knucklehead” persona, I studied art and photography at college many years ago.

Last weekend I took a photo. A photo that I’d planned as a gift for my sister. Look away Kim if you’re reading this!

It wasn’t until I was editing, that I realised I’d ticked a lot of these “basics” off in one photo.

"I wish I was a unicorn..."

“I wish I was a unicorn…”

Coincidence? Baader-Meinhof phenomenon? Nah! It’s probably more likely that all these posts by Shelly have reawakened concepts and theories I’d learned years ago; principles that just needed the dust and cobwebs blown off them a little.

Basics such as the rule of thirds, leading lines, foreground interest and depth of field jumped out at me as I edited. Maybe all these concepts would’ve been in this photo without having read Shelly’s posts? Maybe? But I doubt they would’ve jumped out at me if I hadn’t.

Let me teach you how to eat
Teach you how to eat
It’s a culinary treat
Culinary treat
The Reverend Horton Heat – Let Me Teach You How to Eat

I love learning new stuff. But I also love remembering stuff that I knew at some stage, like where I left my reading glasses or my home phone number. Being reminded that I knew these basics, and then putting them into practice is cool. Doing it without really thinking I was, is even cooler.

There was one basic I neglected. I didn’t use any Blu-Tack, although as the wind toppled the unicorn for the third time and my expression began to mirror his, maybe I should have?

Never tips over
Stands up on his own
He is a blockhead
DEVO – Blockhead

*As I was finishing typing this, Shelly only went and posted a photo of a unicorn, didn’t she! Maybe it’s not Baader-Meinhof? Maybe it’s more than that?