A young Reeva Steenkamp poses for a set of photographs taken by her schoolfriend Kerry Smith on the beach at Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
(CNN) -- Newly-revealed photographs of Reeva Steenkamp show the South African beauty as a young aspiring model, and as a star cover girl, just months before her tragic death.
One group of images, taken by Reeva's friend Kerry Smith some eight years ago, show the then 21-year-old law student and modeling wannabe posing on the beach at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where she grew up -- and where her grieving parents recently scattered her ashes.
Her dark hair, freckles and innocent good looks are a world away from the shots of a bikini-clad Reeva featured in glossy magazines which millions around the world are now familiar with.
"That's Reeva in her natural beauty," Smith said. "Not a stitch of makeup on. Hair blowing in the wind with the sea behind her, sun setting behind her."
That's a view of the model shared by another photographer, Gareth Barclay, who took a series of pictures of Reeva in the months before her death.
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These photos, said to have been commissioned by Steenkamp for an unidentified "special someone," show a Reeva who is -- outwardly at least -- very different: Blonde, confident, worldly and polished.
"Most of the photos that I took of her aren't even edited," Barclay said. "That's just how she is, you know.
"That's just a simple color grading that I put on it to give an effect or a mood, but I mean, her skin was always great, beautiful eyes, beautiful features."
Steenkamp, 29, died on February 14 this year -- Valentine's Day. She was shot dead in the bathroom of the home she shared with Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius.
Pistorius insists her death was an accident, that he opened fire after mistaking her for an intruder. Prosecutors disagree: Pistorius remains on bail, awaiting trial for murder.
His family say the loss of his girlfriend -- and his involvement in her death -- has devastated the athlete.
"It's a terrible, terrible mistake he made," his uncle Arnold Pistorius told CNN.
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"I can just image the family of Reeva, the grief they've got and most probably anger, and you know this is a traumatic experience for them and I can't even imagine myself being in that position."
Another of Barclay's pictures shows the tattoo on Reeva's neck: The phrase "Only God will judge me," written in Italian.
"It was very personal to her," said Barclay. "She never really spoke about it or anything, she just wanted a personal photo of it, 'cause, you know, she didn't have any photos of it."
For Steenkamp, this tattoo represented something central to her life, something to be defined by.
"That was something that her grandfather had always said, you know," explained Smith. "It was very close to her own heart."
Pistorius, though, will be judged in a Pretoria courtroom.
CNN's Bryony Jones contributed to this story.
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Steenkamp's friend Kerry Smith took the amateur photos of the wannabe model on the beach near where she grew up eight years ago.
The Port Elizabeth beach is the same location where her parents scattered her ashes earlier this month.
Kerry Smith, tells CNN: "If anything that's Reeva in her natural beauty. Not a stitch of makeup on. Hair blowing in the wind with the sea behind her, sun setting behind her."
Just a few years later, Steenkamp would have transformed herself into a cover girl.
Professional photographer Gareth Barclay took pictures of Steenkamp just a few months before she passed away.
These intimate prints were taken at Steenkamp's request, and were intended to be given to "a special someone" -- although it is unclear who they were intended for.
Steenkamp had a tattoo on the back of her neck reading "Only God will judge me" in Italian. The phrase had personal significance for her, as it "was something her grandfather had always said," according to friends.
![Barclay describes Steenkamp as a natural beauty. He said: "Most of the photos I took of her aren't even edited. That's just how she is, you know... [her] skin was always great -- beautiful eyes, beautiful features."](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130603135437-reeva-steenkamp-beauty-barclay-horizontal-gallery.jpg)
Barclay describes Steenkamp as a natural beauty. He said: "Most of the photos I took of her aren't even edited. That's just how she is, you know... [her] skin was always great -- beautiful eyes, beautiful features."
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