Imagine taking a walk, a long walk, one that could take you months through dozens of towns, even across borders.

Then imagine doing this with no money and only a tent and a 20-year-old camera to hand.

That’s the starting point for Volker Gerling’s Portraits in Motion.

In walking 30,000 kilometres across his homeland of Germany, Volker has met many unique characters.

Some of these he has captured and carefully collated in individual black and white books of 36 photos taken over 12 seconds.

In his native tongue, it’s called Daumen Kino, or “thumb cinema”. To you and I, they are flip books Speaking from his Berlin home, Volker said: “I meet many people when walking but I only really create maybe one flipbook a week.

“All I ask is if I can take a photo of them. 12 seconds seems quite short but for people in front of camera can be quite long.

“All of a sudden they start to react and it's all based on the emotion of that moment when we start seeing the truth in their faces.”

Showing these little books on a video camera to a live audience forms the basis for the show.

Volker also talks about his own experience, of travelling for a long time, alone, away from his family, and having to pay his way through exhibiting his little books of photos to those he meets.

He said: “It's amazing how deep it goes when people see my show - they cry, they laugh, they are so deeply touched.

“I tell them something about time, how it’s literally in your hands. In a flipbook, time is not fixed - it can be as slow or as fast as you want.”

Volker first started making flipbooks In the late 1990s. By 2002 he was making a living by selling them on the streets of Berlin.

Shortly after, he did his first walk, a three-month trek from his home city to Basle in Switzerland.

He said: “I realised that it gave me a new view on the world, a chance to encounter curious open minded people by telling small stories that are also big.

“People will recognise those stories. I don't tell them only about Germany and German people, I tell stories about human beings, about their wishes.”

And of the overall festival theme of home?

He said: “Travelling is nice but I think that I could only love my travels and be able to love what I do as I know I have a home.”

Volker Gerling’s Portraits in Motion

Brighton Dome Studio Theatre, New Road, Saturday, May 7, to Wednesday, May 11.

Sat 7 May, 9pm Sun 8 – Tue 10 May, 8pm Wed 11 May, 6.30pm & 9pm Tickets £12.50