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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
When the Storm Breaks Photo of the Day
February 4, 2016

When the Storm Breaks

I remember sitting on a porch in Hout Bay, watching a summer storm roll off the Atlantic. My host, a fisherman named Elias, didn’t head inside when the sky turned that bruised, heavy purple. He just leaned against the railing, lighting a cigarette, and said, ‘The mountain is just clearing its throat.’ We watched the […]
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The Quiet Edge of Belonging Photo of the Day
February 2, 2016

The Quiet Edge of Belonging

I once sat on a wooden jetty in a small village in the Lake District, watching a single swan drift away from its group. The others were busy, heads tucked into feathers or paddling in tight, noisy circles, but this one just held its ground near the reeds. It didn’t seem lost or lonely; it […]
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The Weight of Stillness Photo of the Day
February 2, 2016

The Weight of Stillness

I remember sitting on a rusted bench in a small town in the Hebrides, watching a loch that hadn’t been disturbed by wind for hours. An old fisherman named Ewan sat down beside me, smelling faintly of salt and tobacco. He didn’t say a word for twenty minutes. When he finally spoke, he didn’t talk […]
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The Weight of Silence Photo of the Day
February 2, 2016

The Weight of Silence

I remember a morning in a small village in the Peak District where the snow fell so thick it seemed to swallow the sound of the world. I walked out to the edge of the woods, and for the first time in years, I couldn’t hear a single engine, a distant radio, or even the […]
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The Unscripted Guest Photo of the Day
January 27, 2016

The Unscripted Guest

I remember a small roadside stall in a town whose name I’ve long forgotten, where the owner kept a pet monkey tied to a wooden post near the noodle station. The animal didn’t seem like a prisoner; he was more like a supervisor, watching the steam rise from the pots with a weary, ancient intelligence. […]
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The River’s Sudden Secret Photo of the Day
January 24, 2016

The River’s Sudden Secret

I remember sitting on a rusted iron bench in a small town in the north, watching the local creek turn a deep, bruised shade of ochre after a week of relentless rain. An old man sat beside me, tossing breadcrumbs into the churn. He didn’t seem bothered by the change in the water, or the […]
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The Weight of Green Photo of the Day
January 20, 2016

The Weight of Green

I remember sitting on a stone wall in a small village outside of Siena, watching a farmer struggle with a stubborn gate. He didn’t seem bothered by the time it took, or the way the wind was starting to whip through the valley. He just leaned into the work, his hands moving with a rhythm […]
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The Weight of Still Water Photo of the Day
January 18, 2016

The Weight of Still Water

I remember sitting on a wooden jetty in a small village near Krabi, watching a local fisherman mend his nets. He didn’t look up for nearly an hour. The water beneath us was so still it felt like a mirror held up to the sky, reflecting clouds that hadn’t yet decided where to go. I […]
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The Quiet Between Steps Photo of the Day
January 18, 2016

The Quiet Between Steps

I remember walking through a valley in northern Vietnam where the path was nothing more than a raised ridge of mud between flooded paddies. My guide, a woman named Hanh, stopped to adjust her sandals and told me that the rice doesn’t grow any faster if you rush past it. It was a simple observation, […]
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The Weight of the Soil Photo of the Day
January 18, 2016

The Weight of the Soil

I remember a farmer in the Mekong Delta who told me that the earth has a memory. He was knee-deep in mud, his hands moving with a rhythm that seemed older than the village itself. He didn’t look up when he spoke; he just kept turning the soil, folding the day into the ground. He […]
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The Texture of Time Photo of the Day
January 3, 2016

The Texture of Time

I remember sitting on a porch in Maine with an old carpenter named Elias. He spent the better part of an hour running his thumb over the grain of a cedar plank, tracing the knots and the scars left by a harsh winter. He told me that wood doesn’t just grow; it remembers. Every storm, […]
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The Edge of the Day Photo of the Day
December 21, 2015

The Edge of the Day

I remember sitting on a porch in Montana with an old carpenter named Elias. The sun was dipping behind the ridge, and for a few minutes, the world seemed to hold its breath. I asked him if he ever got tired of watching the same horizon every evening. He didn’t look at me; he just […]
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