James Newman was born in Natchez, Mississippi but did most of his growing up in Tacoma, Washington. After high school, he moved to Seattle to attend a commercial photography program and live in the city, after a childhood of army bases and suburbs. Near the end of the two-year photo program he became interested in becoming a bike messenger, after going to the first West Side Invite in Portland to shoot photos in 2001. After documenting and eventually becoming accepted into the bike messenger scene, he was hooked. It represented an active, passionate lifestyle, and people that he could relate to. After two years of working as a messenger and photographing the culture in Seattle, he needed a change of pace, so he moved to San Francisco. That was about the same time Mash was being conceived, and they asked him to be a part of their team. After Mash, he met Colby and Colin, and became a part of Macaframa. “Macaframa is so epic. It’s a dumbass thing to say, but that’s just how it is.”