Obama College Photos To Go On Display (VIDEO)

Photos of President Obama as a college student are rare. But 21 of them are about to be shown publicly. They come from a collection of thirty-six photos taken by Lisa Jack, a fellow student at Occidental College, of Obama as a freshman.

In the photos, a few of which were published in Time Magazine, Obama wears a Panama hat and bomber jacket, smoking cigarettes.

Jack told the "Today Show" that she kept the collection in a safety deposit box through the election to avoid influencing the results, and she described the future president as "cute."

"I'm sure Hillary would have paid a fortune for them: 'Is this who you want picking up the phone at 3 a.m.?' " Jack said to the L.A. Times. "I could have made a boatload of money, probably, but I wanted to do it right."

"Barack Obama: The Freshman," opens Thursday at M+B Gallery in Los Angeles.

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Comments

[brabra]

I am happy and proud that Barack Obama is my President. I feel great pride when he goes to other countries to represent us. The work he is doing now will eventually prove effective. The mess he was given from the last administration was not created over night, it took eight years. We all have to be patient and stand by him. He is a great man and a great American. God Bless America.

[Fair]

Ditto for me, I think he is doing an excellent job, I too am glad he is our President and Leader. And the Conservatives know it as well, thus the reason they are unhinged.

[dfuller]

Ignorance is bliss!

[DrunkenTromboneMaster]

I don't give a s h i t a bout these photos. I want to see the torture/abuse photos.

[DesertRadioRat]

There are pictures taken of executed children in Iran up today, if you'd like to enjoy enjoy while you wait.

[barra]

TWISTED!!

[paganmist]

I like that this photographer held off on profiting off of these phtoos until well after they could be used in any shape or form for negative campaigning. I think she should receive some applause for that. So many other people would've tried to cash in early on, and damn the consequences.

[Ohioan730]

Nooo...the cute...its too much! LOL!

I was a reading a comment below about how the people loved Kennedy. I was born several years after Kennedy. I saw how people admired Reagan but its not like this thing with Obama. Clinton was alright I guess. Bush cracked me up the way he sauntered into the press room like he was about to do stand up comedy. What an incompetent! His dad, HW? I really don't remember.

I feel resistant to liking a potus this much because we've had a few presidents in my lifetime that were less than remarkable and I feel as if I should keep this distance. Now I get people's associations of Obama with Kennedy. Kennedy WAS truly loved by the people and so is Obama. I suppose its okay to really like your president.

I'll go ahead and drop my guard but I will not let the "cute" get to me so much. He'd still better keep his promises, cute or not. :-)

[eden4barack08]

What a lovely comment!

[grammargirl]

Drop-deadd charming -- your post.

[bloodyhands]

You very eloquently stated exactly what MANY of us feel.
Maybe not so much the cute thing, for me, but defiantly the admiration.
Not to mention the pride I can finally feel in our first family.

[smchp]

Speak for yourself ladies. I'm a guy and I really like Obama but 'cute' never enters my mind!

[barra]

Eloquent, charming, lovely, ....your words have me .......so.... choked up ....WAAAAAAAAAEHCk!!...sorry, just projectile VOMIT! What is this ? The Stepford Wives chapter of the Obama-mamas?

[yougogirl1948]

To Ohioan30:

I was a young (13 y/o) girl when JFK and Jackie were the first couple and like quite a lot of people in America at that time, I was smitten with the Kennedys . Yes, to my recollection they were popular and beloved by millons of people here in the USA and around the world, but the feelings were different feelings from those for the Obamas. The Kennedys were considered more glamorous because of their upper class, privileged upbringing. Their places in this world, with a little effort on their parts, were assured. Whereas, the Obamas came from a working/middle class upbringing and have had to work hard for their success without any assurance of succeeding. People have just as much admiration for the Obamas as the Kennedys, but the Obamas are more relatable to the average person. They are not on a higher social level as were the Kennedys. I guess I am trying to say, while both of these exceptional people were greatly beloved by millions, the times and circumstances are very different.

[Urbanbarbie943]

Great pics of our President!!

[breakingpoint]

he smokes? on tax payer health care?

[Fromageball]

hopefully you're not an overweight American who is probably more likely to use the health care system than someone who smokes.

[ThisIsJustMyObservation]

good point

[breakingpoint]

47million people in the US without health care - another 40 million who can't afford what they have.

I'd think he should point out that many like him who smoke can't get health care or have to pay extra.

I think he'd bring up the fact that he, his admin, congress and all government employees have have the best health care the US tax payers money can buy and yet so many of these tax payers don't have any coverage or can't afford what they need.

I think he and Congress should do without until ALL Americans have Health Care.

Unless you think some people are more equal than others and/or you should do without while they are well protected and paid for with your money.

[Urbanbarbie943]

You must not have been following at all. He has been trying to quit for quite a while. Spoke of it on 60 Minutes. He may have kicked the habit already. Said he wants to be around for his family.

[breakingpoint]

He's still smoking, sorry.

[KayDGee]

Thirty year old photo!! Go back several more years and maybe there's one of him drooling. Obama was quick to admit to smoking up until his deal with Michelle to quit before running for POTUS... Also quick to admit he still takes an occasional puff. It appears that he is still fit enough to swallow a pretzel without falling off a White House couch. As a taxpayer, I think he's an acceptable risk.

[Ellyllon]

They'll be finding a picture of him at 6 weeks, in diapers, soon.

And yes, I'd rather have Obama's health than the dry alcoholics we've had for the past 8 years. There's some damage, both mental AND physical...

[breakingpoint]

this has nothing to do with Bush other than we know he didn't give a ratsass about most Americans.

47million people in the US without health care - another 40 million who can't afford what they have.

The POTUS, Congress and their families all have the best health care paid for by many who can't even afford the basics for their own families.

And Obama still smokes, what a luxury to be more equal than others.

[breakingpoint]

answered this yesterday they never posted it

[prog]

People who smoke are a blessing to a single payer system. They die early of cheaper diseases, instead of living into old age.

[breakingpoint]

Anyone dying from smoking is never a blessing, but it is true that most smokers seldom receive all the money they have contributed to their social security fund. Same for alcoholics.

Seems to me we should all care for these people in our country regardless of their malady.

Ted Kennedy is alive today because of treatment through the health care the tax payers have bestowed upon him.

Imagine how many people would like a few more months to tidy up a couple of things before they go and how spending that much more time with a loved would make all the difference in the world to millions of Americans.

Yet, 20,000 people die needlessly each year because they have no health care.

The American People can have anything they want, they just don't seem to want much of anything.

What happen to all the change?

[grammargirl]

I like the baby-faced look.

[MacManLB]

He looks gaunt, lean and haggard now. Perhaps the smoking is having an affect on him.

[Netkat]

Or perhaps it's because he's a middle-aged man and not 18 anymore.

[sanang]

He quit smoking right before the campaign remember? Hopefully he slips just every now and then. I am a former smoker, I KNOW how hard it is to quit!

[sweetwhine]

It's not the smoking. It's all the BS he's trying to fix.

[wthomas]

What are you looking at? From what I see, hot hot hot! ....and yes he's got a swagga! :)

[1088]

Story behind the pictures, with more pictures.

http://www.mbfala.com/exhibitions/_53/

[MsLiz]

These photos make me realize there were no shows like "Make Me A SuperModel" back in 1980. What if Obama had taken a detour to make money modeling? This country would be effed.

[skunky93]

lol that is so true

[Aesthete]

Cute kid.

[Spiderxx1]

Great pictures. A well done project.

[Poldolino]

bring back the fro!

[MelanieMatthias]

Gosh, I love my President! I love these photos too! So glad they are here for us to enjoy. I can't get enough of him and his family. There is something about Barack...

[barra]

It's called an obsession: an unhealthy fixation. They are doing wonders with treatment these days.

[Ellyllon]

Yes, surely, to recognize a handsome, adorable, intelligent man, & appreciate that he was one cute kid, too. Just... oooh! So 'unhealthy.'

[nocoward]

It not unhealthy, its an alternative form of treatment and you are right it does wonders (lol)

[AKAchip]

You're called an id.iot- someone who is limited cognitively, has trouble problem-solving and thinking in a coherent fashion.

[roshni]

I hear anger management courses are a dime a dozen today. Maybe all you rethugs should take one. You're going to need it because we are going to re-elect our president in 2012.

[imfedup]

Green eyed monster is appropriate.

[roshni]

He certainly has a presence.

[pdz813]

I am SOOO with you ! I love the man and think he is a real hottie !! I was only around 10 yrs old when John Kennedy was assasinated, but understamd now the pictures of people crying in the streets. I think he was the last president loved by the people in the way they love Obama.

[Ellyllon]

I feel that way, too.

[jayjola]

I was also in grade school then. The principal came into our classroom crying and whispered to the teacher, who started crying and told the class what happened. The whole class started crying. It was truly a sad day in America !

[oceans3]

To JMWTEX

How long have you lived in America? To say that a socialist agenda is going to be helpful for you!

Capitalism has been the best form of government. It's not capitalism's fault that the administrations have allowed corrupt individuals into elected positions. Americans should be DISGUSTED how many elected officials haven't paid their income taxes! That's money that America needs!

Read about communist Russia and East Germany, etc. and understand that there's no personal freedoms in socialism. You belong to the state government, the government's more important than the individual person is. You exist to do what the State wants. As for higher education, that's available now for everyone who wants one. There are such things as Pell Grants to help a person start a college education. There's programs available where a person can work part time and go to school part time to get their degree. That's available now.

But an individual has to have personal responsibility. Put their education as a priority. Not create babies that they can't afford to support. It takes personal responsibility and fortitude to get a college education. Socialism isn't going to give you a handout of a degree.

How long have you been in America?

[lucite]

I am disgusted not by individual tax evaders, what disgusts me are corporate tax havens and loopholes, taking billions of dollars out of this country. The amount far excedes any tax $$ owed by individuals.
Capitalism has to be controlled by government. Sad to say but Capitalism without government control does not work.

[hulagirrrl]

To occans 3

you are right in your response to JMWTEX, but a social democracy would probably work. I have lived in one for a very long time, and as much as I love living in America, I do see the benefits of a social democracy over pure capitalism, for the "little man" at least. I too would have hated to have been brought up in the eastern part of Germany, I have a few friends who came up during that era, and their description alone makes me feel afraid, but look at the massive intrusion into your privacy since 9-11. Look at how we treat our children in this country, they do not have any rights, and are usually guilty until proven innocent, they are subject to metal detectors in their schools, locker searches by dogs, mobile phone confiscation and criminalized for petty things, how do you think they feel, reminds me often of what my east German friends tell me about their "control" government experiences. Yet, if you look at the rest of Europe, almost all of the countries have some sort of "social program" included, and it seems to work. Overall the school systems score high, the satisfaction of the citizens is high. I think though that the gap between rich and poor has widened very much, not only in America, but here you can feel it much more, because of a lack of social programs.

[MsLiz]

Well put; new fan here.

[TheMellowFellow]

What about Sweden?

That seems like a REAL fascist government, right?

[Ellyllon]

Those fiendish Swedes! All happy & sensible, & content... Terrifying!

I was just thinking about Sweden, actually, & what a beautiful place it is, & what lovely people they are... Oh, wouldn't it be just terrifying to be like them!

[Poldolino]

Well done. You've read all about communism.

Now move on and find out what was going on on the western side of the iron curtain.

For example, in the federal republic of Germany. They've got some pretty good personal freedoms there, like the freedom for everybody to go see a doctor when they're sick.

If you want a name for it, it's called social market economy. Or the European Dream for short.

[judiNJ]

The free market is NOT free!

[philosopherkingtomas]

love him like Barack!

[philosopherkingtomas]

love our Barack!
repubs are sad, beaten down, greedy, racists!

[roshni]

Ditto.