Canberra man Samuel Chapman has reached the finals of an international photography and short film competition.
The 23-year-old from Ainslie is up against photographers from countries including India, England, Canada, Pakistan, Brazil and South Africa in the final of the Down's Syndrome Association's My Perspective international photography competition.
Samuel's work was described as being of a "very high standard and captured the imagination of the judges".
His short-listed photograph is called Light on a Spider Lily taken at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.
On reaching the finals, Samuel said: "I am very happy and proud when other people like my photos".
His short-listed photograph is called Light on a Spider Lily taken at the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.
On reaching the finals, Samuel said: "I am very happy and proud when other people like my photos".
The My Perspective competition aims to give people who have Down's syndrome the opportunity to showcase the world through their eyes. Down's syndrome is a genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra chromosome.
Sam is the unofficial record-keeper of the ACT Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability group, taking photographs at their events and special classes.
"Photos are a record of what I see and do," he said.
"I take photos in my science class because it is an important record of our experiments. I also like taking close-up photos of things that most people don't see - like the inside of flowers."
Sam said he was inspired by nature.
"Flowers are really lovely because I can look closely at the details and get the light and angles right. I like taking photos of birds but it is hard to take a good shot because they move so fast," he said.
About his shortlisted image, Light on a Spider Lily, Sam said: "I loved that sunlight was on the flowers and the leaves were darker and more mysterious".
Sam was also the subject of the award-winning short film The Way Sam Sees It by Canberra director Dan Sanguineti, which explored Sam's love of photography.
The My Perspective competition is open to people who have Down's syndrome from across the world.
The finalists have been invited to attend a special awards ceremony in London at the historic Normansfield Theatre where the winners will be announced on November 7.
Sam's mum Liz Milbourne said the family would be travelling over to England to attend the ceremony.
"We're thrilled he's been short-listed and any award would really be icing on the cake," she said.
Sam's photograph Light on a Spider Lily is also in the People's Choice Award category. You can vote for it here
