College student transforms birthmark into remarkable birthmap, inspires others online



NEW YORK, New York --  A New York area college student named Jacob woke up Monday morning and found people across the internet sharing a series of photos of his birthmark.

Josh first posted the 20 photos and shared them on Reddit nearly two weeks ago.  Then BuzzFeed spotted the photos and wrote a story which quickly started trending on the popular site.

In the pictures Jacob shows off his the port-wine stain birthmark which covers much of his right arm and hand.

But in these photos you can also see the map that Jacob has drawn using the mark as an inspiration for lakes, islands and land masses.

Jacob told BuzzFeed he first started drawing the map in high school.

“I think of it as my own private lens by which to see a world filled with people with differences, visible or invisible, that they think alienates them from everyone else.”


The map takes him anywhere from an hour or two to complete.  But he says he isn't really interested in getting it tattooed on his body.

The drawing itself seems to have meaning for him.

“I felt pride that the marks that distinguish my skin were not chosen, but the result of quirky genetic mutations and so far more meaningful to me.”


In his original post on imgur Jacob called it his 'birthmap.'

"I think it makes me look kinda cool, but having it my entire life tends to skew my perception of it."