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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 Uncharted Map of Wonder Photo of the Day
February 20, 2019

The Uncharted Map of Wonder

I keep a small, smooth river stone in my desk drawer, worn down by years of being turned over between my thumb and forefinger. It has no history other than the one I gave it, yet it anchors me to a time when the world was only as large as the garden gate. Children possess […]
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The Weight of Sweetness Photo of the Day
February 18, 2019

The Weight of Sweetness

I keep a small, silver spoon in my drawer that belonged to my grandmother. It is worn thin at the edges from decades of stirring tea and tasting soups, the metal smoothed by the constant, gentle friction of her thumb. There is a specific comfort in holding something that has spent its life serving others, […]
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The Weight of Stillness Photo of the Day
February 6, 2019

The Weight of Stillness

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of water and friction until it fits perfectly into the hollow of my palm. It is a heavy, silent thing, yet it carries the memory of a current that moved long before I was born. We often mistake stillness for an […]
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The Weight of Earth Photo of the Day
February 5, 2019

The Weight of Earth

I keep a small, unbaked clay bird on my windowsill, its wings smoothed by the nervous pressure of a thumb long ago. It is brittle, crumbling at the edges, a fragile archive of a morning spent trying to give shape to the world. When we are small, we believe that if we can hold a […]
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The Weight of Time Photo of the Day
February 4, 2019

The Weight of Time

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of being turned over in my palm. It is cool to the touch, heavy with a history I cannot name, yet it feels like a tether to a place I have never visited. We often carry these fragments of the world—a […]
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The Weight of a Hand Photo of the Day
January 30, 2019

The Weight of a Hand

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, worn smooth by decades of use. It belonged to my grandmother, and when I press my thumb against its dimpled surface, I can almost feel the phantom rhythm of her needle passing through heavy wool. It is a quiet object, yet it holds the weight […]
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The Weight of Shadows Photo of the Day
January 21, 2019

The Weight of Shadows

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, cold, and shaped by the grip of a hand that no longer exists. There is a strange comfort in holding something that has outlived its purpose, a relic of a […]
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The Weight of a Passing Word Photo of the Day
January 19, 2019

The Weight of a Passing Word

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer that belonged to my grandmother. It is worn thin at the tip, a tiny crater formed by years of pushing needles through heavy fabric. It is a quiet object, yet it speaks of a thousand hours spent in stillness, mending what had frayed. We often […]
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The Weight of Saffron Photo of the Day
January 11, 2019

The Weight of Saffron

I keep a small, frayed ribbon of saffron-colored silk in a wooden box, a remnant from a garment that long ago lost its shape. It is thin, worn soft by years of aimless touching, yet it holds the color of a morning sun that has not shone for decades. To hold it is to feel […]
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The Weight of a Laugh Photo of the Day
December 29, 2018

The Weight of a Laugh

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk that I found in my grandfather’s coat pocket after he passed. It is heavy for its size, worn down by water and time until it fits perfectly into the hollow of my palm. It carries no history other than the tactile memory of his thumb […]
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The Weight of Unspoken Lines Photo of the Day
December 17, 2018

The Weight of Unspoken Lines

I keep a small, wooden ink-grinding stone in my desk drawer, its surface worn smooth by the friction of a hand that has long since stopped moving. It is a heavy, silent thing, stained with the ghost of black pigment that refuses to wash away. We often think that the tools of creation are merely […]
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The Threshold of Knowing Photo of the Day
December 3, 2018

The Threshold of Knowing

I keep a small, rusted skeleton 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, and carries the weight of a room I can no longer enter. There is a peculiar ache in possessing a tool that has […]
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