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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 Morning Photo of the Day
May 14, 2019

The Weight of Morning

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of being turned over in my palm. It is cold to the touch, heavy with the silence of the water it once rested in. We often think of time as a river that carries things away, but I prefer to think […]
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The Weight of Migration Photo of the Day
May 13, 2019

The Weight of Migration

I keep a small, tarnished brass key in a velvet pouch, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold against the palm, a physical anchor to a room that no longer exists. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—keys to lost houses, dried flowers from […]
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The Weight of a Coin Photo of the Day
May 3, 2019

The Weight of a Coin

I keep a small, tarnished brass 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, cold against the palm, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that no longer exists. We spend our lives gathering these […]
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The Weight of Bare Branches Photo of the Day
April 26, 2019

The Weight of Bare Branches

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer that belonged to my grandmother. It is worn smooth at the tip, a testament to the thousands of times she pushed a needle through heavy wool to mend the things we had torn. When I hold it, I feel the quiet labor of her hands, […]
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The Weight of Echoes Photo of the Day
April 11, 2019

The Weight of Echoes

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, smoothed by the palms of people whose names have long since slipped from the family ledger. To hold it is to feel the gravity of a house that has vanished, […]
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The Weight of Salt Photo of the Day
March 30, 2019

The Weight of Salt

I keep a small, smooth stone in my desk drawer, pulled from the tide line of a beach I haven’t visited in twenty years. It is worn down to a soft, matte grey, its edges rounded by the relentless, patient friction of the sea. There is a specific kind of silence that lives inside such […]
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The Weight of a Morning Photo of the Day
March 13, 2019

The Weight of a Morning

I keep a pressed sprig of lavender inside the pages of a book I rarely open, its color long since surrendered to a dusty, muted grey. It is brittle now, a ghost of a garden that existed before I knew how to measure time by the things that wither. We spend our lives gathering these […]
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The Weight of Small Things Photo of the Day
March 7, 2019

The Weight of Small Things

I keep a pressed blue cornflower inside the pages of a dictionary, its color now more shadow than petal. It is brittle, a ghost of a summer that felt like it would never end, yet slipped away the moment I turned my head. We spend so much of our lives looking for the monumental, the […]
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The Keeper of the Quiet Photo of the Day
March 6, 2019

The Keeper of the Quiet

I keep a small, rusted brass key in a velvet-lined box, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, worn smooth by the friction of a pocket or the nervous rubbing of a thumb. We collect these remnants of utility—keys to houses sold, locks to trunks […]
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The Weight of Quiet Photo of the Day
March 4, 2019

The Weight of Quiet

I keep a small, wooden comb in my drawer, its teeth worn smooth by decades of use. It belonged to a woman who never spoke much, yet her presence was a steady hum in the house, like the sound of water over river stones. When I hold it, I am reminded that there is a […]
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The Weight of Unfolding Photo of the Day
March 3, 2019

The Weight of Unfolding

I keep a pressed sprig of lavender inside a heavy dictionary, its color long since surrendered to the pages. It is brittle now, a ghost of a summer that felt like it would never end, yet it carries the faint, dusty ghost of a scent if I press my thumb against it. We are always […]
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The Weight of Small Things Photo of the Day
March 2, 2019

The Weight of Small Things

I keep a small, smooth stone in my desk drawer, worn down by the friction of my own thumb over many years. It has no value to anyone else, yet it anchors me to a summer afternoon when the world felt vast and the only thing that mattered was the texture of the earth beneath […]
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