A British man has made it to fifth position in an international search for a Vincent Van Gogh lookalike.
Steve Monk-Chipman, from Oxford, submitted his photo to an art project after a friend told him he looked a bit like Van Gogh.
If he wins, he will travel to Canada to have a bronze cast of his head made by a Canadian sculpture and be given €5000.
Mr Monk-Chipman, who works in PR, said: “A colleague told me that I looked a bit like Van Gogh before we even knew about the competition, but that is the first time anyone has ever mentioned it to me.
“I sent off my application about a month ago and just started post stuff on social media – then it took off and I was interviewed on TV and the radio.
“If I won, I would be most excited about the trip to Canada. And obviously the statue is cool too.”
Mr Monk-Chipman has received over 12,000 votes so far and is the only British man in the top ten.
But he needs an impressive 44,000 votes to overtake the most popular choice.
The project is being run by artist Douglas Coupland who is “scaling the world” trying to find a model for his sculpture.
On the “I am Vincent” project website, he wrote: “I'm currently crowd-sourcing the planet looking for Vincent van Gogh's closest lookalike. It could be your next door neighbour. It could be a guy at work. It could be you.
“If you think you look like Vincent van Gogh, please submit your photo.
“The person who I think best resembles Van Gogh will be given €5000 and will be flown with a guest to Vancouver for a unique experience and to be 3D-scanned.
“Their facial data will become Vincent van Gogh's likeness on the final sculpture, forever immortalizing them in bronze and on a plaque bearing their name.”
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