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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 Friction of Wind Photo of the Day
April 8, 2012

The Friction of Wind

The smell of dry grass always brings back the sting of twine against my thumb. It is a sharp, paper-thin burn that feels like a secret map etched into the skin. I remember the way the air tasted then—metallic and thin, pulled tight like a drumhead by the invisible hands of a gale. My lungs […]
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The Grit of Ancient Time Photo of the Day
April 6, 2012

The Grit of Ancient Time

The taste of dry earth is a metallic tang that settles at the back of the throat, a reminder of dust storms that once scoured the plains. I remember the feeling of sun-baked stone against my palms—rough, unyielding, and radiating a heat that seemed to pulse like a slow, deep heartbeat. It is a sensation […]
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The Weight of Paper and Time Photo of the Day
April 6, 2012

The Weight of Paper and Time

The smell of old paper is a specific kind of silence. It is the scent of dust settling on things that have been handled for decades, a dry, woody fragrance that clings to the back of the throat like the memory of a library basement. When I think of the past, I do not think […]
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The Breath of Pine and Frost Photo of the Day
April 4, 2012

The Breath of Pine and Frost

The air in the high woods has a sharp, metallic edge that catches in the back of the throat, tasting faintly of wet bark and ancient, decaying leaves. It is a cold that does not just sit on the skin; it sinks into the marrow, a slow, numbing weight that forces the shoulders to drop […]
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The Weight of Waiting Photo of the Day
March 30, 2012

The Weight of Waiting

The air before a storm has a metallic tang, a sharp, electric prickle that settles on the back of the neck like fine, cold dust. I remember standing on a porch in the dead of winter, my lungs tightening with the expectation of something silent and white. There is a specific texture to that kind […]
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The Salt of Memory Photo of the Day
March 28, 2012

The Salt of Memory

The air near the coast has a weight to it, a sticky, humid thickness that clings to the skin like a damp linen sheet. I remember the smell of woodsmoke mingling with the sharp, metallic tang of the tide, a scent that settles deep in the back of the throat. There is a specific heat […]
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The Rough Hum of Harvest Photo of the Day
March 27, 2012

The Rough Hum of Harvest

The smell of dry earth always brings me back to the grit of harvest season. It is a sharp, metallic scent, like iron filings mixed with sun-baked straw. I remember the way the stalks felt against my palms—stiff, serrated, and demanding. There is a specific rhythm to the labor, a dull ache that settles into […]
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Velvet Against the Skin Photo of the Day
March 26, 2012

Velvet Against the Skin

There is a specific resistance when you press your thumb against the petal of a flower that has just begun to unfurl. It is not quite silk, and it is not quite paper; it is a cool, living velvet that holds the dampness of the morning deep within its fibers. I remember the smell of […]
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The Breath of Cold Earth Photo of the Day
March 22, 2012

The Breath of Cold Earth

The air at midnight has a specific weight, a damp velvet that clings to the back of the throat. I remember standing in a field where the frost had begun to knit itself into the blades of grass, turning the ground into a brittle, silver lace. There is a sound to that kind of cold—a […]
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The Granite Breath Photo of the Day
March 20, 2012

The Granite Breath

The air in high places tastes of cold iron and crushed stone. It is a thin, sharp flavor that settles at the back of the throat, reminding the lungs that they are guests in a kingdom of giants. I remember the feeling of granite against my palms—not the smooth, polished stone of a kitchen counter, […]
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The Salt of the Storm Photo of the Day
March 18, 2012

The Salt of the Storm

The smell of rain on hot pavement is a sharp, metallic ache that settles deep in the lungs. It is the scent of the earth waking up, gasping for a drink after a long, dry fever. I remember the feeling of a wool sweater turning heavy and damp against my shoulders, the way the fabric […]
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The Pulse of Ancient Heat Photo of the Day
March 15, 2012

The Pulse of Ancient Heat

The smell of sulfur is a thick, yellow blanket that clings to the back of the throat, tasting of pennies and wet earth. It is the scent of the world before we arrived, a raw, bubbling alchemy that hums beneath the soles of your feet. I remember walking near a thermal spring where the ground […]
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