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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 a Hand Photo of the Day
March 3, 2018

The Weight of a Hand

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 weight of a threshold I can no longer cross. We spend our lives building these invisible walls, these boundaries between […]
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The Geography of Distant Glows Photo of the Day
March 1, 2018

The Geography of Distant Glows

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, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that no longer exists. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—keys to rooms we cannot re-enter, maps […]
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The Weight of Silence Photo of the Day
February 27, 2018

The Weight of Silence

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of being turned over in my palm. It was picked up from a path I walked long ago, a place where the air felt thin and the world seemed to stretch out into an endless, quiet blue. When I hold it, […]
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The Shelter of Two Photo of the Day
February 23, 2018

The Shelter of Two

I keep a small, rusted key in a velvet pouch, though I have long forgotten which door it once opened. It is a heavy, cold thing, worn smooth by the friction of pockets and the passage of years. We often carry these remnants of utility, objects that have outlived their purpose but remain tethered to […]
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The Dust of Yesterday Photo of the Day
February 16, 2018

The Dust of Yesterday

I keep a small, wooden box filled with the broken ends of colored chalk, worn down to nubs by years of use. They are dusty, fragile things, stained with the residue of lessons long forgotten and drawings that were washed away by the first heavy rain. To hold them is to feel the weight of […]
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The Rhythm of Hands Photo of the Day
February 11, 2018

The Rhythm of Hands

I keep a small, frayed piece of twine in my desk drawer, a remnant from a package my grandmother once tied. It is brittle now, the fibers loosening if I pull too hard, yet it carries the memory of her steady, rhythmic movements. She was a woman who understood that life is held together by […]
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The Threshold of Silence Photo of the Day
February 10, 2018

The Threshold of Silence

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, a heavy reminder of a place I once stood where the water seemed to hold the sky in its throat. We are often drawn to these edges—the dark, […]
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The Weight of Open Space Photo of the Day
January 30, 2018

The Weight of Open Space

I keep a small, rusted key in my desk drawer that no longer fits any lock in my house. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a door that has been sealed shut for decades. We often cling to these remnants, hoping they might one […]
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The Weight of Stillness Photo of the Day
January 24, 2018

The Weight of Stillness

I keep a small, tarnished brass key in a velvet-lined box, 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 locks were sturdy and secrets were kept behind iron. To hold it is […]
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The Unlikely Guest Photo of the Day
January 20, 2018

The Unlikely Guest

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, worn smooth by my grandmother’s thumb. It is a useless thing now, a relic of a life spent mending tears in fabric, yet I cannot bring myself to discard it. It reminds me that we often find beauty in the most misplaced corners of our […]
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The Weight of a Pause Photo of the Day
January 12, 2018

The Weight of a Pause

I keep a small, rusted skeleton key in a velvet pouch, though I have no idea which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the phantom weight of a room I will never enter. We spend so much of our lives in motion, rushing toward the […]
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The Architecture of Passage Photo of the Day
January 8, 2018

The Architecture of Passage

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 threshold I can no longer cross. We spend our lives moving through spaces—hallways, archways, the quiet gaps […]
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