The Award Award Showcase The Gallery Publications Gears University Expeditions Career About Us Dev-Lab Learning & AI Future Curriculum Curiosity & Consciousness Sign In Submit Your Work →
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 Petals Photo of the Day
September 30, 2019

The Weight of Petals

I keep a pressed daisy inside a heavy dictionary, its stem brittle as a dry twig and its once-white petals turned to the color of old parchment. It was plucked during a summer that felt infinite, back when time was measured not by clocks, but by the length of shadows stretching across the lawn. When […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of Thresholds Photo of the Day
September 17, 2019

The Weight of Thresholds

I keep a heavy iron key in my desk drawer, one that no longer fits any lock I own. It is cold to the touch, pitted with age, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that has long since been reclaimed by ivy and silence. We spend our lives crossing thresholds, stepping from […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Glass Between Us Photo of the Day
September 12, 2019

The Glass Between Us

I keep a small, silver-backed hand mirror in my drawer, its surface clouded by a fine web of scratches that catch the light in ways the clear glass never could. It belonged to a grandmother I never knew, and I often wonder whose face she was searching for when she looked into it—was she checking […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of a Season Photo of the Day
September 6, 2019

The Weight of a Season

I keep a small, silver teaspoon in my drawer that belonged to my grandmother. It is tarnished now, the metal worn thin at the edges from decades of stirring sugar into morning tea. When I hold it, I feel the phantom weight of those quiet, early hours—the steam rising against the kitchen window, the sound […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of Passing Through Photo of the Day
August 30, 2019

The Weight of Passing Through

I keep a small, rusted iron key in my desk drawer that no longer opens any door I know. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that was sold long before I was born. Sometimes, I hold it and wonder about the thresholds […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of a Shared Meal Photo of the Day
August 29, 2019

The Weight of a Shared Meal

I keep a small, silver dessert fork in my drawer, its handle worn smooth by the thumb of a grandmother I barely knew. It is a heavy, quiet thing, etched with a pattern of lilies that have long since lost their sharp edges to time. There is a specific gravity to the objects we use […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of Salt and Time Photo of the Day
August 27, 2019

The Weight of Salt and Time

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. There is a peculiar ache in holding something that has […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of a Shared Secret Photo of the Day
August 23, 2019

The Weight of a Shared Secret

I keep a small, rusted tin box in the back of my desk drawer, filled with the smooth, rounded river stones my sister and I collected during a summer that feels like it belonged to someone else. Each stone is heavy with the memory of a promise we made to never grow apart, a vow […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of Fallen Leaves Photo of the Day
August 19, 2019

The Weight of Fallen Leaves

I keep a pressed maple leaf inside the pages of a dictionary I bought when I was twenty. It has turned the color of dried tobacco, brittle and thin as a moth’s wing, yet it still holds the shape of the tree it once belonged to. When I touch it, I am reminded that we […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Persistence of Yellow Photo of the Day
August 16, 2019

The Persistence of Yellow

I keep a pressed daffodil inside a heavy book of poetry, its once-vibrant trumpet now flattened into a translucent, papery ghost. It was picked during a spring that felt as though it would never arrive, back when the frost still clung to the windowpanes like a stubborn secret. To hold it now is to touch […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of a Crumb Photo of the Day
August 12, 2019

The Weight of a Crumb

I keep a small, tarnished silver butter knife in the back of my kitchen drawer, its handle worn smooth by hands that stopped reaching for it years ago. It is a heavy, quiet thing, yet it carries the memory of Sunday mornings when the house smelled of yeast and patience. We often think that the […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
The Weight of a Sunday Table Photo of the Day
August 6, 2019

The Weight of a Sunday Table

I keep a small, tarnished silver fork in my drawer, its tines slightly bent from years of pressing into soft fruit and shared meals. It belonged to a kitchen that no longer exists, a place where the air always smelled of citrus and salt, and where the hours were measured not by clocks, but by […]
Visual Archive Read Essay →
Light & Composition University

Aspire to Write for Light & Composition?

Master the discipline of literary essayism, photographic criticism, and evocative narrative. Explore our accredited diplomas, masterclasses, and craft workshops.

Diploma in Creative Writing and Copywriting Professional Diploma
1-Year Comprehensive Curriculum $275.00

Diploma in Creative Writing and Copywriting

From the first story you dare to set down in your own voice to the single persuasive line that makes readers take notice. Master narrative non-fiction, storytelling, and high-impact editorial writing.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
Becoming a Writer Foundational Masterclass
Self-Paced / Core Curriculum $8.00

Becoming a Writer

For writing stories that move readers — that shape their feelings, raise their expectations, and show the world through your unique artistic lens.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
Basic Creative Writing Certificate Course
8-Week Intensive $75.00

Basic Creative Writing

Develop an instinct for rhythm, descriptive precision, and evocative prose. Learn the fundamentals of transforming visual observations into compelling essays.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
Advanced Creative Writing: Character, Setting, and Story Advanced Workshop
8-Week Masterclass $75.00

Advanced Creative Writing: Character, Setting, and Story

Deepen your narrative architecture. Master character interiority, sensory setting descriptions, and the literary craft of non-fiction and short essays.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
The Art of the Opening: Writing the Lede Craft Masterclass
Focused Masterclass $75.00

The Art of the Opening: Writing the Lede

The art of the opening sentence and decisive paragraph. Learn how to arrest attention and command the reader’s gaze from the very first line.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
A Photographer’s Guide to Writing Visual & Prose Synergy
Publication & Guide $5.00

A Photographer’s Guide to Writing

A guide for photographers who want to articulate the philosophy behind their images, write artist statements, and craft features for global publications.

View Curriculum & Enroll →
Explore All Diplomas & Degrees →