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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 Salt Photo of the Day
May 27, 2016

The Weight of Salt

I keep a small, smooth stone in my pocket, pulled from a shoreline I visited years ago. It is worn down by the constant, rhythmic rubbing of the tide, a process of erasure that feels more like a refinement. We spend our lives accumulating things—heavy, jagged burdens of memory—only to find that time has a […]
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The Weight of Water Photo of the Day
May 25, 2016

The Weight of Water

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, pulled from a current that dried up years ago. It is heavy, cool to the touch, and carries the memory of a water that no longer flows. We often mistake the permanence of stone for the truth of a place, forgetting that the landscape is […]
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The Weight of Dust Photo of the Day
May 12, 2016

The Weight of Dust

I keep a small, rusted iron key in a velvet pouch, though I have no idea which door it once opened. It is heavy, cold, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a time before my own. To hold it is to wonder about the rooms it guarded and the hands that turned it, perhaps […]
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The Weight of the Crowd Photo of the Day
May 2, 2016

The Weight of the Crowd

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, a silent witness to a room that no longer exists. We spend our lives moving through spaces, turning locks, and walking across thresholds, […]
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The Weight of the Unseen Photo of the Day
April 28, 2016

The Weight of the Unseen

I keep a small, rusted iron key in a velvet box on my desk. It does not fit any door in my house, and I have long forgotten which lock it once turned, yet I cannot bring myself to discard it. It is a heavy, cold reminder that there are spaces in our lives we […]
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The Weight of Unchosen Paths Photo of the Day
April 23, 2016

The Weight of Unchosen Paths

I keep a small, rusted iron key in a velvet pouch, though I have no idea which door it once opened. It is heavy, cold to the touch, and worn smooth by hands that have long since turned to dust. There is a peculiar ache in holding something that promises entry to a place that […]
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The Weight of Empty Paths Photo of the Day
April 18, 2016

The Weight of Empty Paths

I keep a small, rusted skeleton 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 weight of a threshold I can no longer cross. We spend our lives accumulating these fragments—keys to locks that have […]
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The Weight of Rain Photo of the Day
April 18, 2016

The Weight of Rain

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, pulled from a creek bed during a summer that felt like it would never end. It is cool to the touch, heavy with the memory of water and the quiet patience of things that grow in the shade. We often think of time as something […]
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The Weight of the Horizon Photo of the Day
April 15, 2016

The Weight of the Horizon

I keep a small, rusted iron 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 house that no longer stands. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—the keys to rooms […]
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The Quiet Ritual of Being Photo of the Day
April 9, 2016

The Quiet Ritual of Being

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, worn smooth by my grandmother’s thumb. It is a hollow thing, yet it feels heavy with the weight of thousands of stitches, each one a quiet act of maintenance against the fraying edges of the world. We spend our lives mending, feeding, and tending to […]
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The Weight of the View Photo of the Day
March 9, 2016

The Weight of the View

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 house that no longer exists. There is a strange, quiet ache in holding something that […]
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The Sound of Morning Oars Photo of the Day
January 18, 2015

The Sound of Morning Oars

Water does not remember the stone that broke its surface. A ripple forms, widens, reaches the shore, and disappears. We, on the other hand, carry our grievances like heavy ballast in a small wooden skiff. I watched the mist rise from the water and realized how much unnecessary weight I have insisted on carrying. The […]
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