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Pix Bare Obama's Cocky College Days

Long-lost 1980 student photos of debonair freshman emerge

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 18, 2008 5:12 AM CST

(Newser) – Long-lost photos of college freshman Barry Obama smoking and posing with a hat have emerged with Time magazine's "Man of the Year" story. Photographer Lisa Jack says the 1980 photo shoot of her fellow student at Occidental College in Los Angeles reveals a "spirit of fun and thoughtfulness" in the president-elect.

After digging up the old negatives from her basement, Jack kept them locked in a safety deposit box during the campaign to make sure they weren't used for political purposes. She didn't see Obama for decades after college, but he recognized her immediately when she hailed him on a 2005 tour of Capitol Hill. "He knew exactly who I was after all this time," said Jack. "I was amazed."

You can see he is just posing, initially, but as the shoot goes on, he starts to come out, said photographer Lisa Jack. He was very charismatic even then.
"You can see he is just posing, initially, but as the shoot goes on, he starts to come out," said photographer Lisa Jack. "He was very charismatic even then."   (Time/Lisa Jack)
Aspiring photographer Lisa Jack asked fellow freshman Barack Obama to pose for a photo shoot in 1980.
Aspiring photographer Lisa Jack asked fellow freshman Barack Obama to pose for a photo shoot in 1980.   (Time/Lisa Jack)
Photographer Lisa Jack kept her old photos of Obama in a safe during the election campaign to make sure they weren't used for political purposes.
Photographer Lisa Jack kept her old photos of Obama in a safe during the election campaign to make sure they weren't used for political purposes.   (Time/Lisa Jack)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 17 comments
Guest
Feb 1, 2009 10:20 PM CST
These photos are awesome. Lisa Jack did a great job. I found this place to buy Obama Keepsakes with Lisa Jack's photos . Awesome!
riffran
Jan 23, 2009 11:01 PM CST
well at least HE admitted to imbibing in a few chemicals in his youth...unlike the other demo-Gog Mr. bill "i didn't inhale Clinton...who didnt have a BJ in the way he understood sex to be defined....but when you see what he's married to, I don't blame him for "gettin a Lewinski" on the side
Zebraone
Dec 21, 2008 4:03 AM CST
Cocky is the operative word!~~~~ Hope he doesn't get the same lung disease that M. Jackson is sporting. Must be from bad pot!~~~

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