Bind an image stored in SQL server using varbinary(MAX) to datatable using C# winforms

See more:

C#

image

DataTable

Binding

I'm a C# newbie working on a Winforms project and need help retrieving and displaying picture to picturebox. However, I'm getting an error
"Unable to Cast object of type String to type byte[]"
There are other elements such as Navigation that work well except for this.

What I have tried:

DataTable dt = new DataTable();             
dt = eda.NavigateEmployee(); // Create datatable from NavigateEmployee Class
tableBindings.DataSource = dt;

Binding picture = new Binding("Image", tableBindings, ((DataTable)tableBindings.DataSource).Columns[15].ColumnName);                
picture.Format += new ConvertEventHandler(pictureFormat);
EmployeePic.DataBindings.Add(picture);

private void pictureFormat(object sender, ConvertEventArgs e)
{
    byte[] b = (byte[])e.Value; // Error 'unable to cast object of type string to type byte[]
    MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(b);
    Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(ms);
    ms.Close();
    e.Value = bmp;
}

// Function to save picture to SQL Server 
public byte[] ImageToStream(string fileName)
{
    MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();

    try
    {
        Bitmap image = new Bitmap(fileName);
        image.Save(stream, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Error Updating Photo", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);
    }

    return stream.ToArray();
}

// Function to Display Selected Picture to PictureBox
public void UploadPicture() 
{
    OpenFileDialog ofd = new OpenFileDialog();
    ofd.Filter = "Image Files(*.jpg; *.jpeg; *.gif; *.bmp)|*.jpg; *.jpeg; *.gif; *.bmp";

    if (ofd.ShowDialog() == DialogResult.OK) 
    {
        strFilePath = ofd.FileName;
        EmployeePic.Image = new Bitmap(strFilePath);
        lblImageFilePath.Enabled = false;
        lblImageFilePath.Text = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(strFilePath).ToString();
    }
}