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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 Heat of Memory Photo of the Day
December 12, 2022

The Heat of Memory

I keep a small, tarnished brass mortar and pestle on my kitchen shelf, its surface worn smooth by the friction of a thousand mornings. It belonged to a grandmother I only knew through the stories told in hushed tones, yet when I run my thumb along the rim, I can almost smell the sharp, earthy […]
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The Weight of the Daily Photo of the Day
December 1, 2022

The Weight of the Daily

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, worn smooth by the friction of a thumb that is no longer here to hold it. We spend our lives tethered to these small, functional things, believing […]
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The Weight of Stone Photo of the Day
December 1, 2022

The Weight of Stone

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 heavy for its size, a dense anchor that reminds me of how much time it takes to shape something solid. We often feel small against […]
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The Weight of a Morning Photo of the Day
November 28, 2022

The Weight of a Morning

I keep a small, silver spoon in my desk drawer, its handle worn smooth by decades of use. It belonged to a kitchen that no longer exists, a place where the air always smelled of toasted oats and quiet beginnings. To hold it is to remember the slow, rhythmic clinking against ceramic bowls, a sound […]
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The Weight of a Pinch Photo of the Day
November 28, 2022

The Weight of a Pinch

I keep a small, tarnished silver tin in the back of my pantry, filled with the ghost of a spice blend my grandmother used to grind by hand. The metal is worn smooth where her thumb rested for decades, and when I open it, the scent of cinnamon and cloves rises like a sudden, sharp […]
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The Weight of the Path Photo of the Day
November 22, 2022

The Weight of the Path

I keep a small, rusted iron key in the bottom drawer of my desk, 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. We spend our lives accumulating these small […]
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The Weight of Tomorrow Photo of the Day
October 25, 2022

The Weight of Tomorrow

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, a cold weight that pulls at the palm, reminding me that we are all defined by the burdens we choose to carry. Sometimes, we inherit these weights […]
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The Layers of Time Photo of the Day
October 3, 2022

The Layers of Time

I keep a small, wooden box in my desk drawer that smells faintly of cloves and dried bark. Inside, there is a single, brittle cinnamon stick I found in my grandmother’s pantry years after she passed. It is curled tight, a scroll of history that has held its scent long after the kitchen it belonged […]
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The Weight of a Recipe Photo of the Day
October 2, 2022

The Weight of a Recipe

I keep a small, flour-dusted index card in the back of my kitchen drawer, its edges softened by decades of thumbing. It is written in a hand that is no longer here to guide mine, the ink faded to the color of dried tea leaves. There is something heavy about a recipe passed down; it […]
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The Watcher in the Weeds Photo of the Day
September 21, 2022

The Watcher in the Weeds

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 faint, metallic scent of a time when secrets were kept behind iron bolts. We are all, in a sense, keepers […]
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The Weight of the Horizon Photo of the Day
September 13, 2022

The Weight of the Horizon

I keep a small, dried sprig of lavender pressed between the pages of a ledger from my grandfather’s shop. It has lost its scent, and the petals crumble if I touch them too firmly, yet it remains a heavy anchor to a summer I barely recall. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—a pressed flower, […]
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The Persistence of Petals Photo of the Day
September 1, 2022

The Persistence of Petals

I keep a pressed carnation inside a heavy dictionary, its edges brittle as parchment and its color faded to the shade of a bruised sunset. It was a gift from a winter that felt like it would never end, a small, stiff thing that once held the promise of spring. When I touch it, I […]
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