A Conversation with Pan
What does BDSM mean to you?
Being able, as adults, to play with the same intensity with which children play.
BDSM is a fictional world that we decide to create, with its codes, its rules, and its suggestions. And where we decide to live, making it real.
The practice that intrigues you the most?
Definitely everything related to bondage and constrictions. I love the rituality that exists in the constriction of a body and its ability to transmute a person into another creature or an object.
I find beautiful the mutual trust and acceptance that arises between those who bind and those who are bound.
Describe yourself with five adjectives
I have always been a bit unconventional and rebellious. And, also, for this reason, I will not use the other three adjectives.
Why did you choose The Dark Side Of Pan as your stage name?
I never liked my real name, Gianluca. I've never felt it like mine. On the other hand, I have always loved my surname of Greek origin, Panareo, which contains the names of two divinities: Pan, the faun, god of the woods and nature, and Ares, the god of war. I grew up in the wild in a house lost in the hills, and Pan has always been a very similar archetype to me. That's why I chose Pan as an art name.
The_dark_side_of_Pan is the erotic photography project I have been developing for years in parallel with my career as a visual artist. Eroticism is always mistakenly seen as something dark; I wanted to make fun of this belief a little, desecrating it.
You are a photographer; when you realized that photography was your preferred medium?
I have had a camera in my hand since I was 5 years old. Capturing and framing reality is something that has always fascinated me. Although, a real awareness that it was my preferred medium came recently, after having worked for several years in the cinema, theatre and performance fields. It's something that comes to me, as absolutely natural, and direct, without those superstructures that often pollute and weaken the creative process.
BDSM world and photography, a happy and intriguing encounter; which shot are you most satisfied with and which one would you like to take but haven't managed yet?
Choosing a favourite shot is a bit like choosing a favourite child. There are some of my photos that are more iconic, like the one of the boy/dog on the pool table or that of the two guys in full-rubber kissing. But perhaps, the ones that satisfied me the most, are some shots I took at some fetish parties, where despite the arduous conditions of light and context, images were born capable of telling something true and intense.
What I have not been able to do yet? A nice photo of fist. I would like to try to portray one of the most explicit practices in the most elegant, delicate and poetic way possible.
What is your fetish?
As the holder of the title of Mr Rubber Italia 2022 certainly, my huge fetish, is that of rubber, especially the industrial and thick one. The smell or noise of rubber alone can bypass all my rationalities and go straight to instinct.
Your hidden side? Tell me a secret...
I'm too lazy to be able to keep a secret.
If I tell you skin, what comes to your mind?
The smell, and the creak of leather; perhaps of a nice collar that closes around a neck.
The SIRAINER object do you want most?
None, because I already have both: the Chain Collar Gold, which I practically wear more to social events than to fetish ones, and the Eyes Shut Hood, which I immediately fell in love with the first time I touched it.
A fantasy that you would like to realize...
A huge fetish event in Italy, different from all other events in Europe and worldwide. An “Italian Holiday”, where for a few days everyone can experience their fetish and kinky nature in total freedom.
I imagine a large hotel, or a large villa in a heavenly place, with a park and swimming pool, and dominants with their slave on a leash for a walk. People tied to trees or on the lawn to sunbathe, puppies running around, and structures for the various BDSM practices scattered a little everywhere. People happy and proud to present themselves to others in their most intimate nature, without filters and embarrassment.
And I'm working to make sure it's not just a fantasy.