Benjamin Kanarek | "Fly Me to the Moon" | Bloggers & Artistic Freedom

Admittedly the sounds of  “Also Sprach Zarathustra” and Stanley Kubrick’s movie “2001 Space Odyssey” are favorite artistic inspirations of mine.  We adore this Harper’s Bazaar China Aug. 2010 fashion editorial “Fly Me to the Moon” and video that tap into the futuristic zeitgeist and also a vision of new Asian beauty, one that challenges Western standards. See original photos here on Benjamin Kanarek Blog.

There is a minor fashion industry, blogger brouhaha brewing around Benjamin Kanarek’s “Fly Me to the Moon” video and editorial, which was not chosen for exposure by one of the leading fashion scan blogs. Editorial decisions always belong with the website owner, and we can’t begin to cover all the materials we would love to write about here at Anne of Carversville and Sensuality News. 

Benjamin Kanarek’s Making of “Fly Me to the Moon”

In the case of photographer Benjamin Kanarek’s “Fly me to the Moon” editorial for Harper’s Bazaar China Aug 2010, it seems that a mistake has been made.

Both the image editorial and accompanying video are an artistic revelation, and we want to offer our unwavering support of this premium-quality creativity in fashion imagery and messages. 

Evidence of an editorial shakeout in fashion blogging is emerging, and we’re seeing a fault line developing between creatives who have something to say, and those who don’t. The standard scan fare will soon be separated from the gourmet offering of photos with thoughtful commentary or comment dialogue.

In my always-sexy terms, slow seduction and foreplay will gain favor over the quickie. New Eroticism will triumph fashion porn. Changes in Google search-engine organization and the introduction of the iPad are two technical evolutions that will prioritize premium content. 

True artistry requires us to take a point of view, a position on art, creativity and fashion.

Writing or curating with conviction hasn’t been valued in an evolving world where a prevalent concern not to offend guides most politically correct writing and editorial decision-making. Fashion bloggers aren’t alone. Thursday’s NYT Style section article on plus-size fashion was such regurgitated milk-toast, it could have been written 10 years ago. (Read Seeking a Permanent Peace Treaty in Plus-Size Fashion Wars. Note that ‘war’ is the NYT term. American business and media make war out of everything, including cupcakes.)

Posting photos is a service easily knocked off by the next blogger with a newer and better approach to new technology. Everyone including me loves the photos. S(he) who posts the best, easy to download images, will have the traffic. This is an execution-oriented endeavor. 

While photographer Benjamin Karanek is justifiably annoyed that his work wasn’t shown by the blockbuster industry blog in question, his argument for fashion’s support of artistic content as a priority will carry the day.

Prada and Louis Vuitton, complemented by a proliferation of new blogs and small artistic magazines are prioritizing artistry and quality in their digital culture web stops. We’re thrilled to see the rapid evolution to a curated, innovative point of view and genuine content creation on the Internet, and are now calling them out on Sensuality News.

Educated readers with money in their wallets will support these new enterprises.

So calm down, Benjamin Karanek. Your Harper’s China “Fly Me to the Moon” work is fantastic. If it makes you feel any better, we had what we thought was an excellent, not-self-serving but supporting another blogger comment edited out on Friday by the same website.

Admittedly, I was very surprised, not known for having my premium-quality, expensive ideas censored. LOL

My takeaway was that the blog in question has no interest in any kind of genuine thought in the comments. If I can’t get a thought published, than I’ll just write up the discussion on Anne of Carversville and feature the other blogger’s post here.

What began as a small comment with another point of view on two models, supported by a superb Richard Avedon editorial on Touch Puppet, will now become a major essay to get my point across.

Not wishing to give up any of our own editorial control, we’re not about to criticize another blogger. We all make our own decisions and readers — as well as the intellectual and financial quality of those readers —  will carry the day. Anne