French Banksy makes budding snapper a star

His face is on walls, doors and, er, skips across the world but if he walked past you in the street you probably wouldn't recognise him.

Amateur photographer Jon Cartwright has become a global phenomenon after a self-portrait he posted on the web inspired France's answer to Banksy.

Before he could say 'internet stardom', the 33-year-old's picture app­eared on the streets of New York, London, Paris and Sao Paulo.

'I'd be lying if I pret­ended I didn't get a big kick out of it,' said Mr Cartwright, a web manager from Southwark, south-east London.

'His work is inc­redible. It's quite nice to be involved.'
His rise to fame began in February when he posted on website Flickr a photo he took of himself smoking a cigarette.

He then received a message from a Paris-based artist who calls himself C215.

'This is a great picture of you. I will provide you soon or later a surprise,' he wrote cryptically.

Mr Cartwright soon found his face appearing all over the world, his photo forming the base for a stencil.

'A picture I took as a lighting experiment more than anything else has taken on a life of its own,' he said.

Despite the partnership, the budding male model has never met C215, whose real name is Christian Guemy.

The best they have done is exchange e-mails in a bizarre cross-Channel rel­ationship.

'It shows how the internet allows people to collaborate in strange ways,' added Mr Cartwright.