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Contributing Writer Storytelling & Travel Writing

Tom Bretherton

Tom Bretherton has spent the better part of two decades travelling, and the better part of that time paying attention. He has contributed to Light & Composition since 2014 with a writer's instinct for the particular — the name of a town, the timing of a conversation, the kind of detail that makes a story feel true. His Reflections are brief narratives that arrive at something universal by way of somewhere very specific.

621 Published Reflections

Reflections by Tom Bretherton

Showing 12 of 621 essays
The Weight of Ambition Photo of the Day
June 19, 2016

The Weight of Ambition

I remember standing in the lobby of a hotel in Chicago, looking up at the ceiling until my neck ached. A man standing next to me, a window washer by trade, noticed my gaze and laughed. He told me that people spend their whole lives trying to build things that touch the clouds, just to […]
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The Weight of Each Other Photo of the Day
June 13, 2016

The Weight of Each Other

I remember watching a group of roofers in a small town outside of Bristol. They were passing heavy slate tiles up a ladder, one by one, a rhythmic chain of calloused hands. I asked the man at the base if he ever worried about the person at the top dropping one. He wiped the dust […]
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The Weight of Gold Photo of the Day
June 12, 2016

The Weight of Gold

I remember sitting in a small cafe in Marseille, watching an old man try to explain to his grandson why the afternoon light felt different in the autumn. He didn’t use big words. He just pointed to the way the sun caught the dust motes dancing above their coffee, turning the mundane air into something […]
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The Weight of the Gaze Photo of the Day
June 12, 2016

The Weight of the Gaze

I remember sitting in a small cafe in Luang Prabang, watching an old man watch the river. He didn’t have a book, a phone, or a companion. He just sat there for an hour, his eyes tracking the slow drift of the water, his posture completely still. When he finally stood up to leave, he […]
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The Season of Sudden Color Photo of the Day
June 8, 2016

The Season of Sudden Color

I remember walking down 4th Street in late spring, my head buried in a notebook, worried about a deadline that felt like the end of the world. I didn’t notice the change until I stopped to tie my shoe. Above me, a canopy had erupted in a violent, impossible shade of pink. It wasn’t just […]
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The Weight of a Promise Photo of the Day
June 5, 2016

The Weight of a Promise

I met an old woman in a market in Jaipur who spent her mornings winding silk thread onto small wooden spools. She told me that every color held a specific weight—a prayer for health, a vow of protection, or a simple wish for a safe journey home. She didn’t look up as she worked, her […]
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The Weight of the Afternoon Photo of the Day
June 4, 2016

The Weight of the Afternoon

I remember a man named Elias who worked the night shift at a bakery in Marseille. He told me once that sleep is not a luxury, but a negotiation. He would find these strange, folded-up corners of the day—a park bench, the back of a delivery van, a quiet stairwell—and borrow twenty minutes from the […]
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The Alchemy of the Spark Photo of the Day
June 2, 2016

The Alchemy of the Spark

I remember sitting in a small kitchen in Istanbul, watching an old man light a stove with a match that seemed to defy the damp air. He didn’t just strike it; he treated the flame like a guest he had been expecting. We often think of fire as something to be tamed or feared, a […]
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The Weight of the Ascent Photo of the Day
May 26, 2016

The Weight of the Ascent

I remember sitting in a small tea shop in Colaba, watching a group of young men stretch their hamstrings against a rusted iron fence. They were laughing, drinking chai from small glass cups, but there was a quiet, nervous intensity to their movements. One of them, a boy named Arjun, told me that the height […]
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The Weight of the Shade Photo of the Day
May 22, 2016

The Weight of the Shade

I remember sitting on a rusted bench in a small town in Rajasthan, waiting for a bus that was already three hours late. The heat was a physical weight, pressing down on the shoulders of everyone in the square. A man sat nearby, fanning himself with a folded newspaper, his eyes fixed on a patch […]
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The Weight of a Word Photo of the Day
May 21, 2016

The Weight of a Word

I remember sitting in a small cafe in Sarajevo, listening to an old man explain why he refused to speak the language of the occupying forces that had long since left. He told me that a language is not just a tool for commerce or directions; it is the house where your ancestors live. When […]
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The Weight of a Whisper Photo of the Day
May 16, 2016

The Weight of a Whisper

I remember sitting in a small, dusty shop in the old quarter of Damascus, watching an elderly man polish a silver ring. He didn’t speak for the first twenty minutes, his hands moving with a rhythmic, practiced patience that made the rest of the world feel frantic and unnecessary. When he finally looked up, he […]
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