There is a man living under a bridge in the coastal town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea in Cleveland and he goes by the name of Dr Geebers.
Homeless, ‘pebble’ artist Dr Geebers is making a journey – an epic journey – to walk around the UK coastline in an attempt to raise awareness to the issues facing the homeless. During his travels he creates three dimensional pebble sculptures from the stones he finds lying on the beaches and designs his art forms anew each time he arrives at a location.
During his journey he has relied on the goodwill and generosity of strangers from the towns he passes through to support him and offer him food, clothing or other supplies. He began his walk in Brighton in May 2008 and has so far walked approximately 4500 miles, visited 32 beaches and has moved an estimated 2000 tonnes of stone in the creation of his sculptures. He is currently working on two sculptures in Saltburn.
Whilst raising awareness to the plight of homeless people to the wider population he hopes, at the end of his journey, to produce a book based on his adventures where profits from sales will go to charities for the homeless. Given the record cold temperatures here in Saltburn this winter and the conditions he has had to endure living under the bridge as he completes his sculptures here, I wish him well for the rest of his journey.
I recently spent a couple of hours with Dr Geebers, chatting and taking some pictures, some of which you can see in the picture story below…
Photofilm production coming soon.
You can follow Dr Geebers on facebook
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