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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 a Breath Photo of the Day
January 29, 2022

The Weight of a Breath

I keep a small, dried sprig of lavender inside the pages of a book I rarely open. It is brittle now, a ghost of a plant that once swayed in a garden I have long since left behind. When I touch it, the petals crumble into a fine, fragrant dust, reminding me that the things […]
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The Weight of a Smile Photo of the Day
January 14, 2022

The Weight of a Smile

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer that once belonged to my grandmother. It is worn smooth on one side, a testament to the thousands of times she pushed a needle through heavy wool, mending the lives of those around her. It carries no great value, yet when I hold it, I […]
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The Painted Silence Photo of the Day
December 27, 2021

The Painted Silence

I keep a small, wooden spinning top in my desk drawer, its paint chipped away by the restless hands of a grandfather I only knew through stories. It is a simple thing, yet it carries the weight of a joy that has long since stopped spinning. We often wear masks to navigate the world—sometimes they […]
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The Weight of Petals Photo of the Day
December 18, 2021

The Weight of Petals

I keep a pressed carnation inside a heavy dictionary, its edges turned to the color of dried tea. It was once vibrant and arrogant, reaching toward the sun with a stubborn, velvet strength. Now, it is brittle, a ghost of a bloom that crumbles if I breathe too heavily upon it. We are taught to […]
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The Path Through Silence Photo of the Day
November 23, 2021

The Path Through Silence

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, worn smooth by my grandmother’s thumb over decades of mending. It is a hollow thing, yet it feels heavy with the weight of all the seams she pulled tight, all the frayed edges she refused to let unravel. There is a quiet dignity in the […]
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The Keeper of the Dark Photo of the Day
November 11, 2021

The Keeper of the Dark

I keep a small, rusted 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 comfort in holding something that has […]
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The Weight of Echoes Photo of the Day
November 8, 2021

The Weight of Echoes

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 house that no longer exists. There is a strange, quiet ache in holding something that […]
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The Weight of Unspoken Walls Photo of the Day
October 13, 2021

The Weight of Unspoken Walls

I keep a heavy iron key in my desk drawer that no longer fits any door I own. It is cold to the touch, pitted with rust, and carries the phantom weight of a house that has long since surrendered its roof to the sky. There is a specific, hollow ache in holding something that […]
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The Weight of Silence Photo of the Day
September 6, 2021

The Weight of Silence

I keep a small, smooth stone in my pocket that I once picked up from a dry riverbed. It is heavy for its size, cool to the touch, and carries the memory of a place where water has not flowed for a very long time. We often think of emptiness as a lack of something, […]
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The Weight of a Feather Photo of the Day
September 2, 2021

The Weight of a Feather

I keep a small, iridescent feather tucked inside the pages of a book I rarely open. It was found on a windowsill years ago, a fragile remnant of a visitor that did not stay. To hold it is to feel the impossible lightness of a life that exists entirely in the present tense, unburdened by […]
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The Weight of a Gaze Photo of the Day
August 9, 2021

The Weight of a Gaze

I keep a small, rusted 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 phantom weight of a threshold I can no longer cross. We spend our lives collecting these fragments—keys to locks that have […]
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The Weight of a Wingbeat Photo of the Day
July 7, 2021

The Weight of a Wingbeat

I keep a small, tarnished silver thimble in a velvet-lined box, a relic from a grandmother who moved through the world with a quiet, frantic energy. It is light, almost nothing in the palm, yet it carries the phantom pressure of a thousand stitches made in haste. We spend our lives trying to pin down […]
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