Birkin has exhibited internationally, including at The Courtauld Institute of Art, The Photographers' Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, Trolley Books, and Photo50, London; Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow; Photomonth, Kraków; the Benaki Museum, Athens; Centre d'art et de photographie de Lectoure, France; Mudam Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg; FotoFest, Houston; MoMA PS1 Rockaway Dome, and the Whitney Museum ISP in New York. He was the recipient of the 2010 Sovereign Art Prize (Barbican Centre, London), the 2012 Celeste Prize for Photography (Museo Centrale Montemartini, Rome), and a photography bursary from the National Media Museum.