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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 Stone Photo of the Day
October 15, 2017

The Weight of Stone

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn perfectly round by water that stopped flowing long ago. It is heavy for its size, a dense anchor of earth that feels like it has witnessed centuries of silence. We often mistake permanence for safety, believing that the places we inhabit will always be […]
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The Weight of Stone Photo of the Day
October 12, 2017

The Weight of Stone

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn perfectly round by a current I will never see. It is cool to the touch, a heavy anchor in a room that often feels too light, too prone to drifting. We spend our lives trying to build things that outlast our own breath—walls of […]
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The Weight of a Passing Shadow Photo of the Day
October 12, 2017

The Weight of a Passing Shadow

I keep a small, rusted skeleton key in the bottom drawer of my desk, one that no longer fits any lock in my house. It is heavy, cold to the touch, and carries the phantom weight of a door I can no longer name. We spend so much of our lives moving through spaces that […]
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The Kneading of Time Photo of the Day
September 30, 2017

The Kneading of Time

I still possess a wooden rolling pin that belonged to my grandmother, its surface smoothed by decades of flour and the insistent pressure of her palms. When I run my fingers over the grain, I am not just touching wood; I am feeling the rhythm of a thousand quiet mornings. There is a sacred geometry […]
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The Scent of Memory Photo of the Day
September 26, 2017

The Scent of Memory

I keep a small, tarnished copper spice tin in the back of my pantry, long since emptied of its contents. It belonged to my grandmother, and even now, if I press my nose against the metal, I can almost catch the ghost of cumin and toasted coriander that once filled her kitchen. It is a […]
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The Weight of a Shell Photo of the Day
September 26, 2017

The Weight of a Shell

I keep a small, smooth stone in my pocket, worn down by years of thumbing its surface until the edges have softened into a gentle curve. It is a heavy thing for its size, a dense anchor that reminds me how time acts upon us, slowly polishing away the sharp corners of our grief until […]
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The Weight of the Threshold Photo of the Day
September 19, 2017

The Weight of the Threshold

I keep a heavy brass key in my desk drawer, one that no longer fits any lock I own. It is cool to the touch, worn smooth by a hand that stopped turning it decades ago. There is a strange, quiet dignity in objects that have outlived their purpose, standing guard over spaces that have […]
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The Warmth of Morning Photo of the Day
September 17, 2017

The Warmth of Morning

I have a small, chipped ceramic bowl in my cupboard that I cannot bring myself to discard. It is stained with the faint, tea-colored rings of a thousand quiet mornings, a map of slow starts and solitary reflections. When I hold it, I am not just holding clay; I am holding the weight of every […]
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The Weight of Petals Photo of the Day
September 12, 2017

The Weight of Petals

I keep a pressed yellow tulip inside a heavy dictionary, its edges now translucent and brittle as a moth’s wing. It was plucked from a garden long before I understood that beauty is often a precursor to departure. When I touch the dried stem, I am reminded that we spend our lives trying to anchor […]
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The Weight of Clay Photo of the Day
September 6, 2017

The Weight of Clay

I keep a small, unglazed bowl on my desk, its rim chipped from a fall that happened years ago. It is heavy, dense with the earth it was pulled from, and it bears the faint, rhythmic indentations of fingers that worked it into shape long before I held it. There is a quiet gravity in […]
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The Ink of Ancestors Photo of the Day
August 31, 2017

The Ink of Ancestors

I keep a small, dried-up fountain pen in my desk drawer, its nib stained with a dark, stubborn ink that has long since stopped flowing. It belonged to a grandfather I never met, yet when I hold it, I feel the weight of the words he might have written—the promises, the quiet prayers, the lists […]
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The Weight of Gravity Photo of the Day
August 28, 2017

The Weight of Gravity

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of being turned over in my palm. It is heavy for its size, a dense anchor that reminds me of the days when my own body felt light enough to defy the earth. We spend our youth trying to launch ourselves […]
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