A WATCH PHONE

This is a self-portrait which I used to show people the kind of thing I had in mind for a photography project I carried out in Poland during 2006.

I started in winter when the daily temperatures were minus 15 to minus 30 degrees celsius and everything was white with snow. And I completed the project in summer when temperatures were 30 plus degrees celsius and the small room with bright orange walls which I was using for a studio on the 3rd floor of a block of flats was sweltering hot. The studio lights added to the heat and in this way the project was truly based upon the principle of yin and yang where seasons are concerned.

I asked everyone the same question. "What is your most treasured possession and why?"

The example I gave was my watch which represents family love because my parents bought it for my 21st birthday. In monetary terms it doesn't have great value but it means a lot to me. The true value is far greater than the monetary value.

The watch also symbolises time, which is a deeply fascinating concept. In some ways we all hurry and rush about our daily lives - often slaves of time. And yet, at a deeper level there is only ever one moment and it's here and now and it's constant. When we deeply understand the present, we begin to understand time itself is just an imaginary concept no more solid than this watch that has been put together with springs and hands, a little stainless steal and a nice little strap.

None of these parts by themselves are my watch. Even all the parts together in a heap aren't my watch. When you take the watch apart, you are left with the question "what watch is there?" At a deeper level it's possible to understand there is no watch. What appears to be a watch is a temporary manifestation of form which gives the appearance of what is known as a watch. And it's interesting to reflect how all form is just like this. All form is empty of inherent existence.

For this reason, I suspected true value must always be beyond form although I didn't tell anyone this at the time. And the truest human concepts beyond form are love and compassion. I suggest this simply because love and compassion arise naturally when we find ourselves in harmony with nature. For these reasons I thought true value would be those manifestations of form that represent love and compassion.

The 'Marine' style watch is based on the WW2 deckwatches used by the German Navy (Kriegsmarine). Several brands offer their modern reinterpretation of this classic design, of which Stowa has the most well known version.

Kemmner is an ex-employee of Fricker, a company that buids cases for watchbrands - including Stowa, ironically. He has since gone solo and sells parts and entire watches under his own name. This Marine watch of his features a Swiss Unitas 6498 movement and parts from unknown origins, but costs just a third of what the (very beautiful) Stowa Marine Original costs.

Don't mind the flieger strap - that's a temporary solution. I didn't have any other 22mm straps lying around.