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Contributing Writer Philosophy & the Human Condition

Rashid Noor

Rashid Noor is a writer and essayist whose work spans photography, philosophy, and the study of human restlessness. He has contributed to Light & Composition since 2013. A photograph for Rashid is always a question in disguise — and his Reflections resist easy answers, sitting instead with the productive discomfort that a good question leaves behind.

517 Published Reflections

Reflections by Rashid Noor

Showing 12 of 517 essays
The Weight of the Threshold Photo of the Day
September 3, 2013

The Weight of the Threshold

Why do we seek shelter only when the sky begins to bruise? There is a peculiar human instinct to retreat into the amber glow of a room the moment the atmosphere turns heavy with the promise of rain. We gather in these small, illuminated pockets, surrounded by the clatter of plates and the murmur of […]
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The Architecture of Desire Photo of the Day
September 2, 2013

The Architecture of Desire

Why do we assume that language is the only vessel for longing? Across the vast, silent stretches of the natural world, there exists a vocabulary of movement that predates our own clumsy attempts at connection. We watch the dance of others and call it instinct, yet perhaps it is something far more profound—a desperate, rhythmic […]
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The Weight of Potential Photo of the Day
August 28, 2013

The Weight of Potential

Why do we imbue inanimate objects with the gravity of our own unfulfilled desires? We look at a simple sphere resting upon the earth and see not leather or air, but a vessel for every goal we have ever chased and every defeat we have endured. It sits there, indifferent to the passage of time, […]
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The Weight of What Remains Photo of the Day
August 23, 2013

The Weight of What Remains

If a thing is left behind, does it cease to exist, or does it finally begin to tell the truth? We spend our lives gathering, building, and claiming, convinced that our identity is etched into the objects we touch. We believe that by holding onto the material, we are somehow anchoring ourselves against the relentless […]
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The Architecture of Belonging Photo of the Day
August 21, 2013

The Architecture of Belonging

How much of our identity is held together by the walls we build, and how much by the spaces we leave open? We spend our lives constructing sanctuaries, layering twigs and soft linings to ward off the vast, indifferent wind. We believe that if we can just create the perfect vessel, we might finally be […]
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The Weight of the Soil Photo of the Day
August 18, 2013

The Weight of the Soil

Why do we assume that progress is measured by how far we move away from the earth? We spend our lives building walls and paving over the very ground that sustains us, convinced that distance from the soil is a sign of advancement. Yet, there is a quiet, ancient rhythm in the hands that remain […]
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The Glass Between Souls Photo of the Day
August 9, 2013

The Glass Between Souls

Is it possible to truly witness another life when a barrier stands between us? We often mistake observation for connection, believing that if we look long enough, we might understand the internal landscape of another. Yet, there is a profound silence that exists when two beings meet across an invisible divide. We project our own […]
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The Weight of Unseen Walls Photo of the Day
July 31, 2013

The Weight of Unseen Walls

Why do we feel the crushing pressure of a ceiling that has not yet fallen? We live our lives as if the air itself were thickening, burdened by the invisible weight of tomorrow’s anxieties. It is a strange human paradox: we are often more haunted by the shadows of what might happen than by the […]
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The Anchor of Memory Photo of the Day
July 16, 2013

The Anchor of Memory

Why do we insist on tethering the past to the ground, as if history were a ship that might otherwise drift away into the ether? We build monuments and dry docks, surrounding the relics of our ancestors with the cold, sharp lines of the present. It is a strange human impulse—to freeze the movement of […]
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The Weight of Beginning Photo of the Day
July 15, 2013

The Weight of Beginning

How much of our history is written before we have even spoken a word? We arrive into this world as blank pages, yet we carry the heavy, ancient architecture of those who came before us. We look at the smallness of a beginning and mistake it for insignificance, forgetting that every mountain was once a […]
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The River That Never Sleeps Photo of the Day
July 11, 2013

The River That Never Sleeps

Can a river ever truly be the same twice, or are we merely watching the passage of a ghost that refuses to be held? We often speak of time as a line, a steady progression from one point to the next, yet our own lives feel more like the swirling eddies of a stream. We […]
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The Architecture of Departure Photo of the Day
July 9, 2013

The Architecture of Departure

Why do we build structures that lead us toward the middle of nowhere? We are creatures of the shore, tethered to the solid earth, yet we feel an inexplicable pull toward the edge of the water, toward the point where the known world dissolves into the vast, unmapped blue. Perhaps it is because we are […]
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