'Today, people would assume it was done by artificial intelligence'

It's 10 years on from the photograph that captured Manchester like no other, writes Adam Maidment

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Each year, the image takes on new popularity as it remerges online, particularly in the build up towards the end of the year.

It was recently shared on the Manchester subsection of Reddit, where it received a modest 2k upvotes. “I love this photo and I love this city,” the original poster said as many others also shared their admiration. “What an iconic moment. I have friends from around the world that saw that photo when it went viral,” one person said. Someone else replied: “I moved to Manchester from Canada in 2024 and finding this location was a high priority when I arrived. Several North American friends sent this to me when they heard where I was going.” Another simply said: “Hang it in the Louvre.”

For Joel, he said at the time of the photo's online fame that he just happened to be “in the right place at the right time”. Reflecting, 10 years on, he says he could never have predicted how it would take on the life it has.

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted how it would be seen around the world,” he tells the Manchester Evening News. “I think it was just a very fortunate scenario where it caught on online at a time when social media was such a massive amplifier. The timing was all just very fortuitous.