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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 Weight of a Glance Photo of the Day
October 14, 2018

The Weight of a Glance

The smell of damp earth after a sudden rain always brings me back to the feeling of being very small. It is a heavy, sweet scent that clings to the back of the throat, grounding the body when the world feels too large and moving too fast. When we are children, we do not understand […]
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The Grit of Bare Feet Photo of the Day
October 8, 2018

The Grit of Bare Feet

The smell of dry earth after a long drought is a sharp, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat. It is the smell of survival. I remember the feeling of dust between my toes—fine, powdery, and warm, like flour spilled on a kitchen floor. It is a texture that demands to be […]
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The Weight of Softness Photo of the Day
October 7, 2018

The Weight of Softness

The smell of sun-warmed pavement always brings me back to the sticky, sweet residue of a melting popsicle on my palms. It is a thick, syrupy sensation that refuses to be washed away, clinging to the creases of my skin like a secret. There is a specific heaviness to childhood, a density that has nothing […]
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The Grit of Time Photo of the Day
October 7, 2018

The Grit of Time

The taste of dry earth always lingers in the back of my throat when I think of places left behind. It is a gritty, mineral flavor, like dust kicked up by a sudden wind on a road that hasn’t seen a traveler in years. I remember the feeling of sun-baked stone against my palms—rough, porous, […]
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The Hum of Waking Photo of the Day
September 28, 2018

The Hum of Waking

There is a specific, gritty warmth to the first light of spring—the way it tastes like dry dust and damp earth waking up from a long, cold sleep. I remember the sensation of sun-baked velvet against my cheek, a texture so dense it felt like it could hold the weight of a dream. It is […]
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The Grit of Yesterday Photo of the Day
September 16, 2018

The Grit of Yesterday

The smell of wet limestone always pulls me back to the cellar of my childhood home, where the air felt thick and heavy, like a wool blanket left out in the rain. It is a scent of slow surrender, of mortar turning back into sand between the fingers. When I press my palm against a […]
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The Echo of Wet Stone Photo of the Day
September 13, 2018

The Echo of Wet Stone

The smell of rain on hot pavement is a scent that travels deeper than the lungs; it settles in the marrow. It is the smell of a world suddenly scrubbed clean, a sharp, metallic tang that tastes like ozone and wet dust. I remember the feeling of walking barefoot on ground that has just been […]
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The Weight of a Sari Photo of the Day
September 11, 2018

The Weight of a Sari

The smell of sun-warmed cotton always brings me back to the feeling of a rough hem against my palms. It is a specific, dusty scent—the smell of fabric that has spent too many hours hanging on a line, drinking in the heat of a dry afternoon. There is a texture to that kind of childhood, […]
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The Breath of Thin Air Photo of the Day
August 4, 2018

The Breath of Thin Air

The air at high altitudes has a specific, metallic bite. It tastes of nothing and everything all at once—a sharp, cold needle that pricks the back of the throat before settling into the lungs like crushed ice. I remember the sensation of my own pulse thrumming against my collarbone, a frantic, rhythmic tapping that felt […]
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The Crispness of Paper Photo of the Day
August 4, 2018

The Crispness of Paper

The smell of sun-warmed dust always brings me back to the garden gate of my childhood. There is a specific sound to dry things—a brittle, papery rustle that happens when you brush against a hedge, the kind of sound that feels like a secret being whispered against your skin. I remember the sensation of those […]
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The Weight of a Witness Photo of the Day
August 3, 2018

The Weight of a Witness

The smell of damp wool and old incense clings to the back of my throat, a heavy, velvet scent that reminds me of winters spent huddled near a hearth. It is the smell of stillness, of air that has been breathed by many before it reached my lungs. When I close my eyes, I can […]
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The Breath of Petals Photo of the Day
July 29, 2018

The Breath of Petals

The air at dawn has a specific weight, a cool dampness that clings to the skin like a damp silk sheet. It smells of wet earth and the sharp, green promise of things waking up. I remember walking through a garden just as the sun began to bleed over the horizon, my bare feet sinking […]
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