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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 Upward Photo of the Day
December 11, 2017

The Weight of Upward

There is a specific ache in the back of the neck that comes from staring too long at the heavens. It is a physical surrender, a pulling of the spine until the skin at the nape feels tight, like a drumhead stretched thin. I remember lying on the cool, damp grass as a child, watching […]
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The Breath of Morning Photo of the Day
December 4, 2017

The Breath of Morning

The air at dawn has a specific texture, like cool silk pulled tight against the skin before the world decides to wake up. It tastes of damp earth and the faint, metallic tang of dew clinging to tall grass. I remember standing in a field just like this, where the silence was so heavy it […]
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The Breath of Ancient Ice Photo of the Day
December 2, 2017

The Breath of Ancient Ice

The air at high altitude has a sharp, metallic taste, like licking a cold iron railing in the dead of winter. It is a thin, brittle sensation that scrapes the back of the throat, demanding you pay attention to every inhale. I remember the feeling of wool against my skin—heavy, damp, and smelling faintly of […]
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The Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
November 25, 2017

The Salt on the Skin

The smell of cold water hitting hot stone is a scent that settles deep in the lungs, sharp and metallic. I remember the feeling of wet sand between my toes—the way it gives way, then hardens, then pulls back as the tide retreats. It is a rhythmic, heavy sensation, like a heartbeat slowing down after […]
Photo: Munish Singla Read Essay →
The Hum of Damp Earth Photo of the Day
November 25, 2017

The Hum of Damp Earth

The smell of wet soil always brings me back to the monsoon of my childhood, that thick, metallic scent of rain hitting parched ground. It is a heavy, grounding perfume that sticks to the back of the throat, tasting faintly of minerals and ancient roots. I remember the sensation of mud squelching between my toes, […]
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The Warmth of Waking Photo of the Day
November 20, 2017

The Warmth of Waking

The smell of burnt oil always brings me back to the kitchen floor of my childhood, where the air was thick with the scent of toasted mustard seeds and cooling clay. There is a specific, humming heat that radiates from a small flame—not the sharp heat of a stove, but a soft, pulsing thrum that […]
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The Dust of Distance Photo of the Day
November 10, 2017

The Dust of Distance

The air before a storm tastes like copper and dry, crushed stone. I remember the feeling of walking barefoot on a sun-baked path, the grit pressing into the soft arches of my feet, a sharp, grounding reminder that the earth is solid even when the sky feels like it might collapse. There is a specific […]
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The Salt of the Earth Photo of the Day
November 2, 2017

The Salt of the Earth

The smell of damp soil always brings me back to the first time I pressed my palms into a garden bed. It is a heavy, metallic scent, like iron and rain, that clings to the skin long after the work is done. I remember the grit of the earth beneath my fingernails, a rough, grounding […]
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The Texture of First Breath Photo of the Day
November 1, 2017

The Texture of First Breath

There is a specific dampness that clings to the air just before the sun fully wakes, a smell of wet reeds and cold, dark silt. It is a heavy, velvet scent that settles deep in the lungs, grounding the body in the slow, rhythmic pulse of the water. I remember the feeling of water against […]
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The Rough Skin of Time Photo of the Day
November 1, 2017

The Rough Skin of Time

The smell of damp earth after a long rain always brings me back to the garden of my childhood. It is a heavy, metallic scent, like wet iron mixed with the sweetness of decaying leaves. If I press my palm against the bark of an ancient tree, I can feel the history of the wood—the […]
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The Warmth of Stolen Gold Photo of the Day
October 28, 2017

The Warmth of Stolen Gold

The smell of late afternoon always reminds me of dry earth cooling down after a long, feverish day. It is a scent that clings to the back of the throat, like the fine dust kicked up by bare feet running across a courtyard. I remember the feeling of sun-drenched skin, that peculiar, prickling heat that […]
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The Sharpness of Breath Photo of the Day
October 24, 2017

The Sharpness of Breath

The air before a storm has a metallic tang, a dry electricity that prickles the skin of your forearms. I remember standing in a field of tall, sun-bleached grass, the stalks brushing against my shins like stiff, dry hair. There is a specific stillness that precedes a sudden movement—a tightening in the chest, the way […]
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