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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 Velvet Hum of Stillness Photo of the Day
June 23, 2016

The Velvet Hum of Stillness

The air before a storm tastes of ozone and damp earth, a metallic tang that settles at the back of the throat. I remember the feeling of pressing my cheek against a cool, rain-slicked stone wall, the grit of the mortar biting into my skin, grounding me when the world felt too loud. There is […]
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The Weight of Paper Wings Photo of the Day
June 8, 2016

The Weight of Paper Wings

The smell of damp pavement after a sudden monsoon shower always brings me back to the feeling of rough, cheap paper between my fingers. It is a dry, fibrous texture that leaves a faint, chalky residue on the skin, the kind that clings to your fingertips long after you have let go. There is a […]
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The Grit of Stillness Photo of the Day
June 3, 2016

The Grit of Stillness

The taste of fine, dry earth is a memory I keep on the back of my tongue, a metallic tang that arrives whenever the wind shifts just so. It is the flavor of a long, slow wait. When you sit for hours in the sun, the heat begins to feel like a heavy wool blanket […]
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The Weight of Stolen Rest Photo of the Day
May 30, 2016

The Weight of Stolen Rest

The smell of hot asphalt and diesel always brings me back to the feeling of a heavy wool blanket pressed against my skin on a humid afternoon. It is the scent of a world that never stops moving, even when you are desperate to close your eyes. There is a specific ache in the joints—a […]
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The Hum of White Petals Photo of the Day
May 17, 2016

The Hum of White Petals

The smell of damp earth after a spring rain always brings me back to the feeling of cool, wet grass against my ankles. It is a heavy, sweet scent—the smell of things waking up from a long, dark sleep. I remember the texture of a petal between my thumb and forefinger, that fragile, velvet resistance […]
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The Weight of Morning Photo of the Day
May 12, 2016

The Weight of Morning

The air in the mountains has a specific, metallic bite that clings to the back of the throat, tasting faintly of crushed stone and cold water. I remember waking in a room where the floorboards were so chilled they felt like needles against my soles, a sharp, sudden reminder that I was alive and tethered […]
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The Salt of Renewal Photo of the Day
April 30, 2016

The Salt of Renewal

The smell of rain on dry, sun-baked earth is a scent that travels deep into the marrow. It is the smell of a promise kept. When I was a child, I would press my palms against the rough, cooling bark of the olive trees, feeling the grit of the soil beneath my fingernails. There is […]
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The Salt of the Horizon Photo of the Day
April 23, 2016

The Salt of the Horizon

The air before dusk has a specific, metallic tang, like the taste of a copper coin pressed against the tongue. It is the smell of cooling earth, a dry, dusty scent that clings to the back of the throat long after the heat of the day has retreated into the soil. I remember sitting on […]
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The Dust of Leaving Photo of the Day
April 23, 2016

The Dust of Leaving

The air in an empty room has a specific weight, a thickness that tastes of dry limestone and forgotten winters. When I walk into a space that has been stripped of its purpose, I can feel the grit of pulverized concrete against my palms, a fine, grey talc that settles into the creases of my […]
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The Grain of Quiet Photo of the Day
April 14, 2016

The Grain of Quiet

The smell of cedar always brings me back to the attic of my childhood, where the wood was dry and thirsty, drinking in the heat of the summer afternoons. I remember the sensation of running my thumb over a smooth, polished marble—the cool, heavy weight of it against my skin, the way it clicked against […]
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The Salt of Fading Gold Photo of the Day
April 12, 2016

The Salt of Fading Gold

The smell of cooling earth after a long, dry day is a specific kind of ache. It is the scent of dust settling into the creases of your palms, a gritty, mineral warmth that lingers long after the sun has retreated behind the jagged teeth of the horizon. I remember sitting on a stone wall […]
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The Hum of Green Photo of the Day
April 7, 2016

The Hum of Green

The smell of wet earth always brings me back to the damp hem of a skirt, heavy and clinging against my ankles after a storm. It is a scent that tastes like iron and crushed stems, a thick, green perfume that coats the back of the throat. There is a particular vibration that travels through […]
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