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Contributing Writer Memory, Objects & Elegiac Prose

Marta Vidal

Marta Vidal is a writer and archivist whose work explores what physical objects hold — letters, worn photographs, things kept against all practical reason. She has contributed to Light & Composition since 2016. A photograph for Marta is always a form of preservation, something the photographer chose to keep. Her Reflections open with a specific object and arrive, gently, at what it means when the moment has long passed.

389 Published Reflections

Reflections by Marta Vidal

Showing 12 of 389 essays
The Weight of a Glance Photo of the Day
January 9, 2020

The Weight of a Glance

I keep a small, rusted iron key in a velvet pouch, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that no longer exists. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—the keys to rooms […]
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The Weight of Stone Photo of the Day
December 25, 2019

The Weight of Stone

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of nervous thumbing. It is heavy for its size, a dense anchor that reminds me of a summer spent by a creek that has long since dried up. We collect these fragments of the world—a stone, a rusted key, a pressed […]
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The Weight of Small Wheels Photo of the Day
December 10, 2019

The Weight of Small Wheels

I keep a small, rusted iron key in the velvet lining of my jewelry box, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, a cold weight that anchors me to a house that no longer exists, in a neighborhood that has been paved over by the […]
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The Weight of the Sky Photo of the Day
December 5, 2019

The Weight of the Sky

I keep a small, rusted key in a velvet pouch, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, a cold piece of iron that feels like a promise made by someone who is no longer here to keep it. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—keys […]
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The Unfolding Fabric of Time Photo of the Day
December 3, 2019

The Unfolding Fabric of Time

I keep a small, silk ribbon in a cedar box, the color of a sunset that has long since faded into grey. It once belonged to a dress I wore as a girl, a garment that felt like a second skin during those long, breathless summers when the wind seemed to carry the promise of […]
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The Weight of Small Steps Photo of the Day
November 16, 2019

The Weight of Small Steps

I keep a small, rusted iron key in a velvet pouch, though I have long forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that no longer exists. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—the keys to rooms we […]
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The Weight of Early Hours Photo of the Day
November 15, 2019

The Weight of Early Hours

I keep a small, rusted key in a ceramic bowl on my desk, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a time when I still believed that every lock had a corresponding secret waiting […]
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The Weight of White Photo of the Day
November 14, 2019

The Weight of White

I keep a small, smooth stone from a riverbed that dried up years ago. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the silence of a place that no longer speaks. When I hold it, I am reminded that stillness is not an absence of life, but a different way of […]
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The Weight of Woven Time Photo of the Day
November 12, 2019

The Weight of Woven Time

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, its surface worn smooth by decades of rhythmic friction against a needle. It belonged to a woman who believed that everything worth having required a steady hand and a quiet patience. When I hold it, I feel the phantom pressure of the work she left […]
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The Weight of Migration Photo of the Day
November 6, 2019

The Weight of Migration

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer that once belonged to my grandmother. It is worn smooth on one side, a testament to the thousands of times she pushed a needle through heavy wool, mending the lives of those she loved. There is a quiet, rhythmic persistence in that object—a reminder that […]
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The Weight of Gold Photo of the Day
November 1, 2019

The Weight of Gold

I keep a pressed leaf inside a heavy dictionary, a brittle scrap of maple that turned the color of a dying sun before it fell. It is so fragile now that the slightest breath might turn it to dust, yet it holds the entire weight of a season I once walked through. We spend our […]
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The Weight of a Single Page Photo of the Day
October 9, 2019

The Weight of a Single Page

I keep a small, dried pressed flower inside a heavy dictionary, its petals now so brittle they might turn to dust if I breathe too hard. It was tucked between the pages of a book I found in an attic, a relic of someone else’s quiet afternoon spent learning words they hoped would change their […]
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