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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
Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
October 21, 2015

Salt on the Skin

The memory of the ocean is not in the eyes, but in the way the air clings to the back of your throat. It is the taste of salt, sharp and metallic, lingering long after you have climbed out of the surf. When the sun hits your shoulders, the skin tightens, pulling into a map […]
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The Weight of Silk Photo of the Day
October 15, 2015

The Weight of Silk

The smell of rain on hot asphalt always brings me back to the feeling of heavy fabric against my skin. It is a specific kind of pressure—the way a thick scarf settles across the shoulders, grounding the body when the world feels too thin or too fast. I remember the rough texture of a wool […]
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The Cool Breath of Earth Photo of the Day
October 12, 2015

The Cool Breath of Earth

There is a specific coolness that rises from damp earth when the sun has finally retreated. It is a scent that clings to the back of the throat—a mixture of wet clay, crushed grass, and the heavy, metallic promise of rain. I remember pressing my palms against the walls of a house built by hand, […]
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The Glass Between Us Photo of the Day
October 4, 2015

The Glass Between Us

The smell of old paper is a heavy, sweet dust that settles deep in the lungs, like the scent of a room that hasn’t been opened in years. I remember the feeling of pressing my forehead against a cold pane of glass, the sudden shock of the chill against my skin, and the way the […]
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The Salt of Returning Photo of the Day
October 2, 2015

The Salt of Returning

The smell of rain on hot brick is a language the body speaks before the mind even wakes. It is a sharp, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat, pulling me back to a threshold I haven’t crossed in years. I remember the feeling of cool, worn wood beneath my palms—the way […]
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The Salt on the Wind Photo of the Day
October 1, 2015

The Salt on the Wind

The air before a storm has a metallic tang, a sharp, electric prickle that settles on the back of the tongue like a copper coin. I remember standing on a balcony as a child, the humidity pressing against my skin like a damp wool blanket, waiting for the sky to break. There is a specific […]
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The Hum of Concrete Photo of the Day
September 29, 2015

The Hum of Concrete

The smell of rain on hot asphalt is a heavy, metallic perfume that clings to the back of the throat. It is the scent of a city exhaling after a long, feverish day. I remember the feeling of damp wool against my skin, the way the air turns thick and electric just before the sky […]
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The Velvet Pulse Photo of the Day
September 20, 2015

The Velvet Pulse

There is a specific resistance when you press your thumb against the petal of a poppy. It is not quite silk, and it is not quite paper; it is the feeling of something living that has decided to let go. I remember the smell of sun-baked earth after a long drought, that sharp, metallic scent […]
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The Velvet Pulse Photo of the Day
September 19, 2015

The Velvet Pulse

The scent of damp earth clings to my skin long after the rain has stopped, a heavy, mineral sweetness that settles deep in the lungs. I remember the feeling of pressing my cheek against the cool, waxy surface of a petal, the way it yielded just enough to hold the heat of my breath. There […]
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The Weight of Lavender Photo of the Day
September 14, 2015

The Weight of Lavender

The smell of dried lavender always brings back the scratch of wool against my neck and the damp, cool earth of a garden after a long rain. It is a scent that clings to the skin, a ghost of a hug that lingers long after the person has walked away. We carry the people who […]
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Cool Skin on Damp Earth Photo of the Day
September 11, 2015

Cool Skin on Damp Earth

The smell of rain hitting hot, dry soil is a sharp, metallic sweetness that settles deep in the back of my throat. It is the scent of anticipation. I remember the feeling of wet grass against my ankles, the way the blades tickle and cling, leaving behind a cool, slick residue that makes the skin […]
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The Wax and the Wood Photo of the Day
September 10, 2015

The Wax and the Wood

The smell of cedar shavings always brings me back to the blunt, heavy wooden desk of my childhood. There is a specific resistance when a blade meets the grain—a dry, rhythmic friction that vibrates up through the palm and settles into the bone. I remember the way the wax felt against my fingertips, cool and […]
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