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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 Stillness Photo of the Day
May 9, 2012

The Hum of Stillness

The smell of damp earth after a heavy rain always brings me back to the garden of my childhood. It is a thick, metallic scent, like wet iron and crushed mint leaves. If you press your palm against the rough, vein-heavy surface of a broad leaf, you can feel the pulse of the world beneath […]
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The Rough Bark of Time Photo of the Day
May 1, 2012

The Rough Bark of Time

The smell of crushed grass always brings me back to the damp earth of a summer afternoon, the kind where the air is thick enough to taste like clover and heat. I remember the scratch of dry bark against my shoulder blades—a rough, uneven texture that felt like a secret map etched into the wood. […]
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The Breath of Frost Photo of the Day
April 30, 2012

The Breath of Frost

The air tastes like iron and silence. It is a sharp, metallic sting at the back of the throat, the kind that arrives only when the world has held its breath for too long. I remember the sensation of wool against my chin, damp with the condensation of my own exhaled heat, and the way […]
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The Grit of Bare Feet Photo of the Day
April 28, 2012

The Grit of Bare Feet

The smell of sun-baked earth always brings me back to the feeling of dry dust between my toes. It is a coarse, grounding sensation, the kind that reminds you that you are tethered to the ground, not floating above it. I remember the taste of wild berries, tart and staining my fingers purple, and the […]
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The Dust of Ancient Paths Photo of the Day
April 27, 2012

The Dust of Ancient Paths

The smell of dry earth after a long drought is a scent that clings to the back of the throat, metallic and sharp. It is the smell of survival. I remember the feeling of coarse wool against my palms, the way the fibers prickle and itch, a reminder that warmth is often earned through a […]
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The Salt and the Sun Photo of the Day
April 22, 2012

The Salt and the Sun

The taste of a summer afternoon is always a little bit like dust and dried grass. It settles on the back of the throat, a gritty, warm reminder of running until your lungs burn and your skin feels tight from the salt of your own sweat. I remember the feeling of bare feet on sun-baked […]
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The Pulse of Earth Photo of the Day
April 21, 2012

The Pulse of Earth

The smell of wet earth is the smell of beginnings. It is a cool, heavy scent that clings to the back of the throat, thick with the promise of something taking shape. When I was a child, I would press my palms into the damp soil after a monsoon rain, feeling the grit slide between […]
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The Hum of Green Photo of the Day
April 19, 2012

The Hum of Green

The smell of damp earth after a heavy rain is not just a scent; it is a weight that settles in the back of your throat, thick and sweet like wet wool. I remember crawling through the tall grass as a child, the way the stalks would tickle my forearms, leaving behind a faint, sticky […]
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The Salt on the Wind Photo of the Day
April 19, 2012

The Salt on the Wind

The air in the dark has a different texture than the air in the light. It feels cooler, like damp linen pressed against the back of the neck, carrying the faint, metallic tang of deep water and old stone. I remember walking through narrow, uneven alleys where the ground felt slick beneath my soles, the […]
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The Weight of Wet Stone Photo of the Day
April 15, 2012

The Weight of Wet Stone

The smell of rain on hot pavement is a sharp, metallic sting, but the smell of rain on river stone is something deeper—it is the scent of ancient, cooling earth. I remember kneeling by a creek when I was small, my palms pressed against the slick, mossy skin of a boulder. The water was biting, […]
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The Cold Breath of Stone Photo of the Day
April 15, 2012

The Cold Breath of Stone

The air at high altitude has a specific, metallic bite. It tastes of crushed slate and ancient, frozen water. When I close my eyes, I can feel the sharp prickle of pine needles against my palms and the way the ground beneath my boots feels unyielding, as if the earth is holding its breath. There […]
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The Crisp Breath of Decay Photo of the Day
April 8, 2012

The Crisp Breath of Decay

The smell of autumn is not a scent; it is a damp, earthy weight that settles in the back of the throat. It is the smell of things letting go. I remember walking through woods where the ground felt like a brittle, golden skin beneath my boots, crunching with a sound like breaking glass. There […]
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