Steve Smith is a treasure hunter. But he’s not looking for himself, but for people who have lost something. Without him getting paid for it. Why he does this and what treasures he has already found again.
from
Jürgen Schmieder, Los Angeles
It’s a dull, deep hum that raptures Steve Smith on the Pacific beach in Los Angeles. He swings the metal detector again at exactly the same point, and again: “Mmmmm-mmmmm”, like a bumblebee changing direction. “Could be gold,” he says, after looking at the screen he corrects himself: “No, probably just a bottle cap; they sound the same, both of them.” He digs briefly in the sand, and at a depth of ten centimeters, actually: a bottle cap. Smith puts it in his pocket; it doesn’t have to be that there is rubbish lying around on the beach. A treasure hunter is always a bit of a beach cleaner.