Minutes before England played Argentina in the World Cup of 2002, Carl Baldwin sat down at his PC and photoshopped the image above. He e-mailed it round his office, and the rest is history. The picture was sent round the World, and eventually found its way onto the front cover of the Daily Mirror newspaper. More recently the image won News Photograph of the Year at the What the Papers Say Awards.
We tracked Carl down to discuss this overnight infamy, and asked whether he'd rather wear a hospital gown for the rest of his life or have soup ladles for hands.
Where did you find the hand bags for the pictures? They are rather fetching!
(evilphil)
On t'internet of course - if you're searching for a handbag, evilphil, that's the place to look.
Do you think your picture explains much of the modern anxiety about the frivolity of life and the associated psychological and physical disorders suffered by the community at large? Or was it just a funny idea?
(AndyK)
What do you think?
Have you made any money either directly or indirectly from the Argie Handbag picture ? Has making it improved your employability ?
(Darryn.R)
I did get a free lunch at the Café Royal for the 'What the Papers Say' awards.
Did Piers Morgan give you that award for best picture that you won?
(Wifey)
No! I'm still trying to get hold of the award.
How much flame-mail did you get from Argentinean football fans?
(TooMuch2AM)
I haven't had any bad feedback except from Reuters who weren't very happy about me using their image.
How did it feel to see it in the paper - joy at success, or horror at lack of credit?
(WhoElse)
That was a real shock - I came into work oblivious and found a stack of Mirrors on my desk.
Does it piss you off when people miscredit your work and/or attack media outlets that correctly credit you and obtain your permission to use it?
(Ijon Tichy)
Having bastardised someone else's photograph, I think I should keep my mouth shut on this subject...
How many times have you been sent your own picture on email?
(Monkey do)
I got it loads - it was great to see what people were saying about it.
What's the best piece of feedback you've had about the Argie pic?
(Banana)
The best feedback on the pic came from Australia (I think) and it's brilliant - sorry I don't know the source (see variation of image below).
How do you plan to capitalise on your fame? Merchandise? Television mini-series? The silver screen?
(molvik)
Argie Handbaggers - The Movie... any backers?
What is it that makes a picture go viral?
(CJ)
Search me! I think if people like it, they forward it!
Have you done any other good photoshops? Where are they? Can we see?
(wifey)
I did some others for the Mirror at the time but they didn't use them (better not show them here - might get myself in trouble again...)
Did you waste your company's time when making that pic or was it made when you could've been down the pub?
(JBoom)
As it was a party day, no client work suffered in the making of this picture.
Did your friends family believe you when you told then you'd done 'that' picture?
(wifey)
So many people claimed to have made the pic at the time - I'm sure plenty of people thought I was just trying it on.
Did you see your great handbag pic when it first appeared in the Daily Sport, a few days before going on the rubbish Daily Mirror's front page? Our readers loved it - have you any message for them? Cheers!
(Sport)
A friend told me he'd seen it in the Sport, someone else said they saw it on TV, suddenly it just started appearing everywhere - it's hard to say where it appeared first.
Have you ever photoshopped a celebrities head onto a pornographic picture, just for practice, like?
(bovine)
I did do it with a colleague's picture once - but it scared me, so I binned it.
Do you have a message for the editor of the Daily Mirror? And have you spent the year thinking up amusing ways of getting your awful and bloody revenge?
(Scaryduck)
"Where's my award?" Maybe I could stick his face on a pornographic picture...
What is your fave Photoshop pic of all time?
(monkeyboyblue)
Those posters for the 18-30 holidays were very funny (see below - click thumbnails for full versions).
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Football is shit, isn't it?
(rob)
Can't say it's my favourite.
Do you feel Mike Baldwin has brought shame to your family name with his string of mistresses through the 80s and 90s in hit British soap opera Coronation Street?
(mnb098mnb)
I don't think so - anyone who can put a smile on Dierdre's face can't be all that bad
Complete the following sentence: "I like eating with spoons because..."
(lumpbucket)
...I can't always remember where my hands have been.
If a film were made of your life, how would you want Voice-Over man to describe it in the trailer?
(bovine)
I'd like Ben Kenobi's description of Darth Vader: "He's more machine than man now - twisted and evil..." done by that guy with the voice like he's been eating lava.
What animals would you breed if you could cross breed anything?
(monkeon)
Have you seen the League of Gentlemen episode with the Pig, the Goat and the Chimpanzee?
Do you hate people who spell the name Karl with a K?
(stouffer)
Well, it is the inferior spelling, but having a four letter name beginning with 'C' makes me prone to having my name misspelled...
Falklands or Malvinas?
(bob the dinosaur)
A holiday destinations go, it's not top of my list.
Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies?
(lumpbucket)
Sugar Puffs.
What's the biggest fuck up you've made on-line?
(rob)
Nothing major springs to mind - although I have made a bit of a twat of myself in chat rooms.
Do you think NASA really went to the moon?
(new_matt)
Sure they did - you can still see the footprints.
Do you go to bed naked, or in jammies?
(Banana)
Don't do jammies.
Just how far away is Tipperary exactly?
(Fat Boab)
I'm not sure - is it near Tooting?
If you could spend the day with any fictional character, who would it be, and why?
(lumpbucket)
...so many - but I think a day out with Babs Johnson would be hard to top.
Have you ever used the Bevel and Emboss tool in Photoshop, if so, did you like the result?
(bovine)
It's never quite as exciting as it sounds is it? You need a good, sturdy effect like the classic 'page curl' to give your image that 'wow' factor.
Lasso or magic wand?
(brainstuff)
Lasso definitely - magic wand is for babies
Tabloids: amusing readable emergency toilet-paper, or rabble-rousing pamphlets of doom?
(brainstuff)
Stimulating and thought provoking literature, especially on Sundays (yeah, right).
If you could write tomorrow's paper, what would be on the front page?
(monkeon)
"Firemen get their pay rise"
What is the cruellest thing you've ever done?
(lumpbucket)
I once shaved a friend's right eyebrow off the night before he had to make a presentation.
And the nicest?
(Banana)
I made sausage and mash for my friend Lucy the other day - does that count?
If you were the Milk Tray spy bloke off the telly... how would you deliver the choccies?
(Monosodium Bob)
Send a bike.
Do you ever wish that everyone would just leave you alone?
(pagram)
No-one's bothering me
If you could ask Carl Baldwin one question, what would it be?
(new_matt)
"Why do you smoke?"
Do you get tired of being asked the same questions, time and time again?
(n8)
Only if it's by the same person over the course of one evening.
Which would you rather: Be forced to wear a hospital gown for the rest of your life, or have soup ladles for hands?
(Coomy)
Well, both have their obvious appeal, but I think the ladles...
Where have all the flowers gone?
(DarkEternal)
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
Thanks to the b3ta boarders for the questions, to the ginger gods for doing the other interview-type stuff, and to David Stevenson and Google for the handbags. Anyone looking for further photoshop madness from Carl will be disappointed to learn that his famous image "was a bit of a one-off."
