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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 Sticky Residue of Joy Photo of the Day
June 3, 2011

The Sticky Residue of Joy

The smell of vanilla always brings me back to the kitchen floor, sitting cross-legged on cool linoleum while the oven hummed its low, rhythmic song. It is a scent that clings to the back of the throat, thick and sweet, like the memory of sugar crystals crunching between teeth. There is a specific, tactile ache […]
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The Ripple of Memory Photo of the Day
June 3, 2011

The Ripple of Memory

The smell of rain on hot stone always brings me back to the damp wool of my childhood sweaters. It is a heavy, clinging scent, like earth trying to hold onto the sky. When I close my eyes, I can feel the texture of that moisture against my skin—a cool, velvet weight that settles into […]
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The Grit of New Skins Photo of the Day
May 31, 2011

The Grit of New Skins

The smell of cold iron always brings me back to the winter my father worked the rail yards. It is a sharp, metallic scent that clings to the back of the throat, tasting faintly of copper and dry, frozen wind. There is a specific texture to that kind of cold—it isn’t just a temperature, but […]
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The Salt of the Road Photo of the Day
May 31, 2011

The Salt of the Road

The smell of charcoal smoke always brings me back to the grit of a roadside morning. It is a sharp, acrid scent that clings to the back of the throat, mingling with the heavy, humid heat that presses against your skin like a damp wool blanket. I remember the feeling of dust settling into the […]
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The Chill of Starlight Photo of the Day
May 29, 2011

The Chill of Starlight

The air tastes of iron and impending frost, that sharp, metallic tang that settles at the back of the throat just before the world goes quiet. I remember the sensation of wool against my neck, damp and heavy, and the way my fingertips would go numb, turning into stiff, unfeeling sticks as I reached for […]
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Iron Cold and Hum Photo of the Day
May 27, 2011

Iron Cold and Hum

The taste of the city at night is always metallic, like a copper coin pressed against the tongue. It is the smell of ozone and damp concrete, a scent that clings to the back of the throat long after the sun has retreated. When I walk through the dark, I feel the vibration of the […]
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The Cool Breath of Earth Photo of the Day
May 22, 2011

The Cool Breath of Earth

There is a specific silence that lives only beneath the surface of the world. It is a heavy, velvet quiet that tastes of minerals and ancient, undisturbed dust. When I press my palm against a wall of packed earth, I feel the pulse of the ground—a slow, steady heartbeat that has nothing to do with […]
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The Hum of Returning Photo of the Day
May 21, 2011

The Hum of Returning

The smell of cooling asphalt after a long, blistering day is a specific kind of perfume. It is sharp, metallic, and heavy with the memory of heat trapped in stone. When I walk home at dusk, my soles feel the lingering vibration of the city—a low, rhythmic thrum that travels up through my ankles, settling […]
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The Hum of Reeds Photo of the Day
May 17, 2011

The Hum of Reeds

The smell of damp earth and drying grass clings to my skin long after I have left the water’s edge. It is a thick, vegetal scent, like crushed stalks and cold, deep mud. I remember the sensation of sitting on a surface that breathed—a floor made of woven reeds that shifted and groaned under my […]
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The Dust of Laughter Photo of the Day
May 16, 2011

The Dust of Laughter

The taste of dry earth always brings me back to the schoolyard, that metallic tang of grit settling on the tongue after a long afternoon of running. It is the smell of sun-baked stone and the rough, woolly friction of a sweater against a scraped knee. We never noticed the heat then; we only felt […]
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The Breath of Frozen Stone Photo of the Day
May 14, 2011

The Breath of Frozen Stone

The air in winter has a specific, metallic bite that settles deep in the back of the throat, tasting like iron and ancient silence. It is a dry, sharp cold that makes the skin on your knuckles feel tight, as if the body is trying to shrink away from the world to preserve its own […]
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The Echo of Footsteps Photo of the Day
May 14, 2011

The Echo of Footsteps

The smell of damp stone always brings me back to the cellar of my childhood home, where the air felt thick, like wool pressed against the skin. There is a specific rhythm to climbing stairs that are not quite level—a slight hesitation in the knee, a shift in weight that forces you to listen to […]
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