Hooligans Magazine: The Invisible Friend

In her romantic editorial Invisible Friend from the Eclipse issue of Hooligans magazine, photographer and stylist Li Nana brings an unseen emotional landscape to the surface. Probing the answer to the question: Who am I and what do I want to be? the Invisible Friend is someone who inspires and nourishes the creative imagination. It could be a complete stranger, an old friend or family member who lives far away, even a character from a book or favourite song—anyone with whom an inner dialogue takes place.

Nana is a Shanghai native currently living in the United States whose passion for fashion photography began in earnest during her university days. Her editorial work evidences the cross-cultural fusion and Parisian chic derived from her international travels and upbringing.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Nana enjoys every aspect of her work with children: ‘I love to create my own stories, I get excited when some new ideas come into my head. It feels like putting puzzle pieces together—models, clothing, props, set, location. It’s hard to believe, but I do everything by myself. I enjoy every minute of it’.

Taking her inspiration from daily life, Nana’s work is imbued with a sense of realism that lends an evocative and emotional quality to the fashion narrative, striking a balance between fantasy and truth: ‘Sometimes I do use hair makeup artist on set, but it’s very minimum or the less the better. I believe the real beauty is from inside, everything else should be secondary’.