James Birkbeck's photostream  

Born in Manchester, UK, 1969.
Started taking photographs at the age of 8.
Emigrated to Canada in 1982.
Also paints, composes music (multi-instrumentalist), makes short films, sculpts, and engages in several other creative pursuits.
Transgendered. FTM. Transman. (For those who like labels).
Has Asperger's Syndrome (a condition related to autism).

I did not start out as a photographic artist. I started out as a painter when I was a child. I had a cheap little Instamatic camera, but I did not think of photography as being an art. As far as I was concerned, real art involved painting and drawing.

Nevertheless, when I was in my early 20s, I took a photography course at college. I learned how to operate a manual SLR camera, and acquired darkroom/developing skills. Unfortunately, even though I had found a new love and respect for the medium, I could not afford the film and processing costs. So once again, I went back to painting for a few years.

Then, in 2002, I purchased a Fuji FinePix 3800 digital point and shoot camera. All of a sudden, a new world opened up for me. I no longer had to worry about development costs, and was free to experiment without fear of wasting film. The only problem was that the resolution was only 3.2MP.

I really wished that I could obtain a better camera... one with a higher resolution... one that I could manually operate... a DSLR. But being on a very low income, I just could not afford to buy one.
Then one day in July 2007, I checked my bank balance and found $54,000 in it. I assumed the bank had made a mistake, so I just left it there. Three months later, it was still sitting there. And all I could think about was really wanting a proper camera. So I decided I would just borrow $1000 of the $54,000 in order to buy myself a Canon Rebel XTi. As soon as I got it home, I called the bank to say that they must have made a mistake and that there was a very large sum of money in my account. At first, they laughed and would not take me seriously. But I insisted. The next thing I knew, I found myself threatened with being charged with theft and was ordered to pay back the money I had spent -- immediately. But I couldn't pay it back immediately because I only get $1,000 a month, and that mostly goes to my rent, transportation, and food.. Thankfully, my father helped me out and I was able to pay the bank back.
But, even though it was all very stressful, at least I now have a decent enough camera. :)

Ever since I was a very small child, I have dressed myself up in costumes and make-up to transform myself into different personae. One of my earliest transformations involved turning myself into the Incredible Hulk, with the help of green poster paint.

Since then, I have taken on a variety of characters, including:
Boy George
Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran
David Bowie
Gary Numan
Madonna
Kurt Cobain
Edward Norton
Hannibal Lecter
Wolverine
Vincent Van Gogh
Queen Elizabeth II
Captain Jack Sparrow
Mr. Tumnus The Faun
Alice Cooper
Klaus Nomi
Henry from Eraserhead
Frank Booth from Blue Velvet
Alex from A Clockwork Orange
Mortiis
Jesus
Satan
Vampires
Zombies
A spaceman
An elderly arab man
... and many more.

I don't know why I do it. I just do.