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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 on the Wind Photo of the Day
July 25, 2013

The Salt on the Wind

There is a specific sharpness to the air just before the season turns, a metallic tang that settles on the back of the tongue like a secret. I remember standing in a field where the grass was long enough to brush against my palms, feeling the cool, damp earth beneath my feet. It was not […]
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The Salt on the Wind Photo of the Day
July 24, 2013

The Salt on the Wind

The air near the water has a specific grit to it, a fine, invisible dust that settles on the back of your throat and tastes of ancient, crushed shells. I remember standing on a pier as a child, the wood damp and swollen beneath my bare feet, feeling the sudden, sharp pull of the tide […]
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The Pulse of the Soil Photo of the Day
July 23, 2013

The Pulse of the Soil

There is a specific grit that settles into the creases of the palms when you work the earth—a fine, cool dust that smells of ancient rain and dormant seeds. It is a scent that clings to the skin long after the sun has dipped behind the hills, a reminder that we are made of the […]
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The Salt of Time Photo of the Day
July 23, 2013

The Salt of Time

The smell of iron always brings me back to the wet earth after a storm, that sharp, metallic tang that clings to the back of the throat. I remember running my fingers along a fence post when I was small, the wood splintering under my touch like dry, brittle skin. There is a specific resistance […]
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The Pulse of the Leaf Photo of the Day
July 18, 2013

The Pulse of the Leaf

The smell of damp earth after a heavy rain is a thick, velvet blanket that settles in the back of my throat. It is the scent of things waking up, of roots drinking deep and hidden life stirring beneath the mulch. I remember the feeling of moss against my palms—cool, spongy, and impossibly soft, like […]
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The Iron Pulse of Youth Photo of the Day
July 16, 2013

The Iron Pulse of Youth

The smell of ozone and hot grease always brings me back to the fairgrounds of my seventh summer. It is a sharp, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat, mingling with the sugary ghost of spun cotton candy. I remember the way the metal safety bar felt against my thighs—cold, pitted, and […]
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The Quiet Pulse of Earth Photo of the Day
July 15, 2013

The Quiet Pulse of Earth

The smell of damp earth after a long rain is a heavy, velvet thing. It clings to the back of your throat, tasting of minerals and ancient, slow-moving time. I remember kneeling in the garden as a child, pressing my palms into the cool, dark grit until my skin felt the heartbeat of the soil. […]
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The Salt of Belonging Photo of the Day
July 12, 2013

The Salt of Belonging

There is a specific grit to the air before a storm, a metallic tang that settles on the back of the tongue like copper coins. I remember the feeling of wool against my neck, damp and heavy, smelling of rain and the soot of a city that never quite stops breathing. It is a texture […]
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The Architecture of Crumbs Photo of the Day
July 12, 2013

The Architecture of Crumbs

The first bite is always a betrayal of the senses. You expect the resistance of a crust, but instead, you are met with a thousand paper-thin layers collapsing into a buttery silence. I remember the smell of flour hanging in the air of my mother’s kitchen, a fine, white dust that settled on our eyelashes […]
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The Weight of Prayer Photo of the Day
July 11, 2013

The Weight of Prayer

The air in the mountains has a specific grit to it, a thin, cold sharpness that tastes of dry lichen and ancient stone. I remember the feeling of pressing my palms against a wall that had been weathered by centuries of wind; it was not smooth, but pitted and stubborn, holding a heat that felt […]
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The Dust of Petals Photo of the Day
July 7, 2013

The Dust of Petals

There is a specific, chalky scent to things that are about to vanish. It is the smell of dry earth meeting the first heavy breath of a storm, a sweetness that feels almost bruised against the back of the throat. I remember the way the air felt on my skin during those final hours of […]
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The Salt of Hesitation Photo of the Day
July 5, 2013

The Salt of Hesitation

There is a specific temperature to shyness. It feels like the cool, damp underside of a river stone, hidden away from the sun. When I was small, I remember pressing my face against the rough, splintered wood of a window frame, watching the world move while keeping my own breath held tight in my chest. […]
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