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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 Salt of Leaving Photo of the Day
May 29, 2015

The Salt of Leaving

The smell of wet iron and crushed gravel always pulls the breath from my lungs. It is a heavy, metallic scent, the kind that clings to the back of your throat like the taste of a copper coin held too long under the tongue. I remember the sensation of damp wool against my shoulders, the […]
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The Weight of Stillness Photo of the Day
May 23, 2015

The Weight of Stillness

The smell of damp earth after a heavy rain is a thick, velvet blanket that clings to the back of the throat. It is the scent of things waiting—roots drinking deep, soil settling into its own bones, the slow, rhythmic pulse of a marsh that has no need for clocks. When I was a child, […]
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The Breath of High Places Photo of the Day
May 14, 2015

The Breath of High Places

The air at this altitude tastes thin, like cold water sipped from a rusted tin cup. It carries the sharp, clean scent of crushed grass and damp earth, a smell that clings to the back of your throat long after you have stopped walking. My skin remembers the bite of the wind—not a harsh sting, […]
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The Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
May 12, 2015

The Salt on the Skin

There is a specific, metallic tang that hangs in the air just before a storm rolls over the water. It tastes like ozone and wet stone, a sharp, electric prickle against the back of the throat. I remember standing on a dock once, the wood beneath my bare feet splintered and slick with brine, feeling […]
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The Weight of Still Water Photo of the Day
May 9, 2015

The Weight of Still Water

The morning air tastes of damp earth and cold, wet wool. It is a heavy, clinging scent that settles in the back of the throat before the sun has even thought to break the horizon. I remember the feeling of a wooden hull vibrating against my palms—a rough, splintered grain that held the chill of […]
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The Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
May 8, 2015

The Salt on the Skin

The air before dawn has a specific, metallic bite—a coldness that clings to the back of the throat like damp wool. I remember standing on a shoreline where the sand was still hard and shivering under my bare feet, the grains pressing into my arches with a grit that felt like ancient history. There is […]
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The Warmth of Wool Photo of the Day
April 30, 2015

The Warmth of Wool

The smell of damp wool always brings me back to the hills. It is a heavy, earthy scent, like rain trapped in thick fibers, holding the heat of a living thing against the biting mountain air. I remember the coarse, scratchy feeling of a sweater against my neck, the way the lanolin would cling to […]
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The Grit of Persistence Photo of the Day
April 25, 2015

The Grit of Persistence

There is a specific, gritty texture to survival that I remember from childhood summers spent near the dry riverbeds. It is the feeling of cool, damp earth pressed against the pads of my fingers, hidden deep beneath a layer of sun-baked, cracking clay. You have to dig past the heat to find the moisture. It […]
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The Echo of Stucco Photo of the Day
April 24, 2015

The Echo of Stucco

The smell of old stone is not just dust; it is the scent of time held captive in a cool, dark throat. When I press my palm against a wall that has stood for centuries, I feel the vibration of a thousand hushed conversations trapped within the mortar. It is a dry, chalky texture, like […]
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The Breath of Granite Photo of the Day
April 23, 2015

The Breath of Granite

The air at high altitude has a sharp, metallic edge, like licking a cold iron railing in the dead of winter. It tastes of thin oxygen and damp pine needles, a flavor that settles deep in the lungs, forcing the chest to expand in a way that feels almost painful. I remember the feeling of […]
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The Breath of Cold Stone Photo of the Day
April 6, 2015

The Breath of Cold Stone

The air at high altitude has a specific texture; it feels like thin, sharp silk against the back of the throat. It tastes of damp pine needles and the metallic tang of frost that hasn’t yet surrendered to the sun. I remember waking in places where the silence was so heavy it pressed against my […]
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The Echo of Stone Photo of the Day
March 30, 2015

The Echo of Stone

The smell of old stone is not really a smell at all; it is a coolness that settles against the back of your throat, like the air inside a cellar where the sun has never reached. I remember running my palms over walls that had outlived the people who built them, feeling the grit of […]
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