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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 Hum of Starlight Photo of the Day
February 13, 2013

The Hum of Starlight

The air tonight tastes like cold salt and static. It is the kind of chill that settles deep into the marrow, a sharp, metallic hum that vibrates against the skin when the world goes quiet. I remember the feeling of standing on a pier, the wood damp and swollen beneath my bare feet, the smell […]
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The Weight of Waiting Photo of the Day
February 10, 2013

The Weight of Waiting

The smell of dry earth after a long drought is a sharp, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat. It is the smell of patience. When I was small, I remember sitting on a stone step, my legs dangling, feeling the rough, sun-baked grit press into the backs of my thighs. There […]
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The Salt of the Earth Photo of the Day
February 6, 2013

The Salt of the Earth

The smell of dry, sun-baked stone always brings me back to the feeling of grit between my toes. It is a coarse, honest scent—the smell of earth that has been scorched by the day and is only now beginning to exhale. When I close my eyes, I can feel the heat radiating off the ground, […]
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The Weight of Faith Photo of the Day
February 3, 2013

The Weight of Faith

The smell of old paper always brings me back to the attic of my childhood home. It is a dry, vanilla-like scent, the smell of stories pressed flat by time and gravity. When I run my fingers over the spine of a well-worn book, I feel the grit of history beneath my skin. There is […]
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The Salt of the Storm Photo of the Day
January 31, 2013

The Salt of the Storm

The smell of dry earth turning to mud is the first thing that hits the back of my throat. It is a sharp, metallic scent, like copper coins held in a damp palm. I remember the feeling of cold water sluicing down my neck, the way my clothes clung to my skin like a second, […]
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The Salt on the Skin Photo of the Day
January 31, 2013

The Salt on the Skin

The taste of a humid afternoon is always the same—a thin, metallic tang of river water mixed with the dusty sweetness of roasted earth. I remember the feeling of grit under my fingernails, the kind that stays long after you have washed your hands, a reminder of where you have been. It is a tactile […]
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The Pulse of the Bark Photo of the Day
January 28, 2013

The Pulse of the Bark

I remember the smell of damp pine needles after a heavy rain, that sharp, earthy scent that clings to the back of your throat like cold mountain air. My fingers still ache with the memory of pressing against rough, ancient bark, feeling the tiny, rhythmic vibrations of life hidden just beneath the surface. It is […]
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The Weight of Sun-Warmed Stone Photo of the Day
January 20, 2013

The Weight of Sun-Warmed Stone

There is a specific temperature that stone reaches when it has been drinking the morning sun for hours. It is a dry, radiating heat that seeps into the palms of your hands, a kind of heavy, ancient patience that feels like a hum against the skin. I remember sitting on a low wall as a […]
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The Hum of Warmth Photo of the Day
January 13, 2013

The Hum of Warmth

The air in the mountains has a sharp, metallic edge, like biting into a cold coin. It settles in the back of your throat, a reminder of how thin the atmosphere is when you are far from home. But then, there is the smell of woodsmoke—not the harsh kind, but a soft, resinous ghost that […]
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The Dust of Ancient Paths Photo of the Day
January 11, 2013

The Dust of Ancient Paths

There is a specific grit that settles into the creases of your palms when you walk through a place that has held breath for centuries. It tastes of dry earth and sun-baked stone, a mineral tang that lingers on the tongue long after the wind has died down. I remember the feeling of heat radiating […]
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The Green Pulse of Home Photo of the Day
January 8, 2013

The Green Pulse of Home

The smell of damp earth always brings me back to the kitchen floor of my childhood, where the air was thick with the scent of crushed herbs and the promise of a long, slow afternoon. There is a specific grit to fresh beans—a velvet skin that gives way to a firm, starchy heart under the […]
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The Breath of Stone Photo of the Day
January 6, 2013

The Breath of Stone

The smell of dry earth after a long drought is a heavy, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat. It is the smell of ancient things waking up. When I press my palm against a sun-warmed rock, I feel a pulse that has nothing to do with my own blood. It is […]
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