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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.

393 Published Reflections

Reflections by Marta Vidal

Showing 12 of 393 essays
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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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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