Fuck, You’re Beautiful is the stealthy handiwork of Cape Town-based model agency My Friend Ned and creative agency Jana+Koos. The limited edition, large-format zine celebrates friends, models and local characters who each have their own special radiance. “It’s a way to publish some personalities that we feel the world deserves to see. We really want it to have the feeling of belonging to a space completely free of any judgment or fear,” says Ned booker Candice Hatting, who specialises in championing unexpected and diverse beauty. “The idea was to inspire people to connect with the real; to feel how powerful emotional authenticity is.”

The publication features an accumulation of images taken by photographers and creatives they love, such as Luke Doman, Sarah Hugo Hamman, Jonathan Kope, Gavin Mikey Collins and Quaid Heneke, who together have shot a cross-section of faces on Neds’ books, on the scene, or simply just on the streets. “South Africa is the reason we’ve been so inspired by the people we rep,” adds Hatting. “The sense of identity here is acute and self-originated, and our youth culture is socially conscious and proud. With Fuck, You’re Beautiful, we really want to honour that.”

This story appears in issue two of Nataal magazine. Buy it here