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Contributing Writer Sensory Memory & Embodied Experience

Priya Kapoor

Priya Kapoor has contributed to Light & Composition since 2010. Her Reflections approach photography through the body rather than the mind — opening with something tasted, smelled, or touched before arriving at the image itself. Priya writes about memory as it lives in the hands and the throat, not the intellect. Her pieces have a physical texture that readers describe as something closer to sensation than to reading.

1,125 Published Reflections

Reflections by Priya Kapoor

Showing 12 of 1,125 essays
The Grit of the Ascent Photo of the Day
April 8, 2019

The Grit of the Ascent

The taste of thin, cold air is metallic, like licking a frozen iron gate in the dead of winter. It settles at the back of the throat, sharp and unforgiving, demanding that you pay attention to every breath. I remember the feeling of grit under my fingernails—the dry, pulverized dust of a path that has […]
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The Texture of Time Photo of the Day
April 4, 2019

The Texture of Time

The smell of dry earth after a long drought is a scent that clings to the back of the throat, tasting of dust and ancient, sun-baked clay. I remember the feeling of my grandfather’s hands—the skin like crumpled parchment, dry and mapped with deep, branching lines that felt like riverbeds under my fingertips. There is […]
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The Sticky Residue of Noon Photo of the Day
March 31, 2019

The Sticky Residue of Noon

The memory of summer is never a sight; it is the sudden, frantic stickiness of sugar drying on the back of my hand. It is the smell of melting vanilla—that cloying, artificial sweetness that hangs heavy in the air, thick enough to coat the tongue before you even take a bite. I remember the way […]
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Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
March 13, 2019

Salt on the Skin

The air at the edge of the day tastes of brine and cooling sand. I remember the feeling of walking barefoot where the tide has just retreated, the ground beneath my toes firm and slick, like cool silk pulled tight over bone. There is a specific hum in the air when the light begins to […]
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The Breath of the Earth Photo of the Day
March 11, 2019

The Breath of the Earth

The smell of sulfur always brings me back to the damp, heavy air of a basement I once hid in as a child. It is a sharp, metallic sting that clings to the back of the throat, tasting of wet pennies and ancient, cooling stone. There is a strange comfort in that heat—the kind that […]
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The Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
March 6, 2019

The Salt on the Skin

The air near the water has a specific weight, a dampness that clings to the back of the throat like cold wool. I remember the taste of salt on my lips after a long day spent walking the shoreline, the way the wind pulls at your hair until it feels stiff and tangled with brine. […]
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The Pulse of Rain Photo of the Day
February 18, 2019

The Pulse of Rain

The smell of wet earth rising to meet my skin is a language older than words. It is the scent of iron and crushed stems, a cool, damp weight that settles into the hollow of my throat. I remember the way rain felt on my palms as a child—a frantic, rhythmic tapping that made my […]
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The Breath of High Places Photo of the Day
February 13, 2019

The Breath of High Places

The air at high altitudes tastes of cold iron and crushed stone. It is a sharp, thin flavor that settles at the back of the throat, waking up parts of the lungs that usually stay dormant in the heavy, humid lowlands. When I stand in places like this, my skin feels tight, pulled taut by […]
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The Grit of the Road Photo of the Day
February 6, 2019

The Grit of the Road

The taste of road dust is unmistakable—a dry, metallic grit that settles on the back of your throat, tasting of sun-baked earth and exhaust. It is the flavor of transition, of moving from one place to another while the world tries to strip away your edges. I remember the feeling of fabric pulled tight across […]
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Salt on the Tongue Photo of the Day
February 4, 2019

Salt on the Tongue

The air near the water has a specific weight, a sticky humidity that clings to the back of the throat like the ghost of a summer storm. I remember the sensation of sand—not the soft, powdery kind, but the coarse, crushed-shell grit that embeds itself into the creases of your palms and the soles of […]
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The Grit of Growing Photo of the Day
January 29, 2019

The Grit of Growing

The smell of rain hitting hot, dry earth always brings me back to the feeling of grit under my fingernails. It is a coarse, honest texture—the kind that stays with you long after you have washed your hands. I remember the taste of dust in the air during the long afternoons of my childhood, a […]
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The Rough Edge of Play Photo of the Day
January 25, 2019

The Rough Edge of Play

The smell of crushed chlorophyll always brings me back to the damp earth of late summer. It is a sharp, green scent—the kind that stains your fingertips and leaves a bitter, metallic tang on the back of your tongue. I remember the feeling of serrated leaf edges against my palms, the way they would curl […]
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