When President-Elect Barack Obama was in college, he was a pretty cool guys. He played basketball. He had his friends call him 'Barry.' It appears he also had a bit of a modeling career, The Star Tribune Reports.

Photos that appeared in last month's Time for their "Person of the Year" article have now been put online. They were taken by Lisa Jack, a woman that attended Occidental College with the future-President. As a photography student in her freshman year, Jack had the courage to approach Obama and ask if he could pose for her portfolio.

The man who would later rule the free world said "Yes."

Years later, she mentioned to a friend that she had photographed Obama in 1980 when she was a freshman. The friend scoffed, and dared her to find the pictures. Fortunately, she did:

Jack said she dug up the photos in early 2008 after she mentioned to friends that she knew Obama in college. "If I hadn't been dared, I probably wouldn't have gone to look for them," she said.

 

Obama was brought to Jack's attention back then, she recalls, by a friend of a friend who thought she'd like to use him as a subject. The photos were taken at her apartment. She said he was somewhat uneasy at first, but he loosened up by the time she was done taking 36 shots.

 

The pictures show Obama posing in various parts of Jack's apartment (a thrill, Jack recalls, as he was one of the "hot guys"), as well as smoking a cigarette. They are undeniably cool. Jack says she released them in hopes of showing a different side of Obama:

"And now that 'Barry' is the president-elect, I offer them up so that others may see a side to him I have yet to observe captured in the current maelstrom of contemporary media. I believe the images reflect his spirit of fun and thoughtfulness that I hope he hasn't lost on his road to the White House. For the record, there wasn't a nicer, more sincere guy in college."

 

Very cool, and I'm excited to see that this guy is going to be our President.