Brianna Capozzi and Stevie Dance make such a good pair. Between the two of them—and everyone else in the Venice Beach surfer girl story from the most recent issue of POP— they know how to shoot exactly what I feel like looking at right now. It's all about that sun-filled hazy film grain, good skin, clothes that don't feel stiff or sophisticated, and a wink (if you'll allow me to be a bit cheesy). “We wanted to make a story that had the types of women we grew up admiring,” Stevie told me. “Ones that look like the girls on your family beach holiday that were always unedited and healthy and unaware. Ones with bodies. Ones without haircuts. Ones with big smiles,”

Everything is fun and light, and we got to be included this time in the smallest way—a little smear of some Balm Dotcom. Makeup artist Ingeborg prepped all the girls using it on their lips, she confirmed via email. The issue is still rolling out in the US, but it's out on Instagram if you follow Stevie, Ingeborg, Shaughnessy Brown, Sophie Koella et al. Fitting for now since Stevie and Brianna found most of the girls on social media. One of the girls, Jeet, is from Bondi Beach, Australia, and had never been to the US. “She flew herself over and showed up wanting to go to In-N-Out with some flip-flops on and a silk beach dress in her bag and not much else,” Stevie told me. “Georgia [Fowler] is an Aussie too and has the body of a human weapon—I’ve known her since she was a kid it seems….Sophie is a living Los Angeles angel, Becca [Hiller], Shaughnessy, Cayley [King]—each of them special and unique and of their own magic,”

And there you have it. Girls inspired by girls. Magic.

—Tom Newton

Images from POP Magazine, Issue 34, Spring/Summer 16. Photography by Brianna Capozzi. Fashion by Stevie Dance, POP's Fashion Director (and ITG contributor). For more of the issue, visit thepop.com.

Remember Lara Stone's unretouched Juergen Teller photos for System? Tom does. Let him tell you all about it.