Monthly Photos August 2026 : Spring Sunlight and Courtyard Gatherings

Photos taken by ILCAA staff and associates are posted here once a month; most of them are taken during their field research in Asia and Africa. (The copyright belongs to the photographers.)

This scene is from a rural village in Punjab, Pakistan.
In the warm spring sunlight, family members gather in the courtyard to discuss preparations for an upcoming wedding.

In this region, houses are enclosed by high boundary walls, and entering through the gate leads directly into an open courtyard.
The courtyard serves as the center of everyday family gatherings, as well as a place for receiving guests.
Here, people sit on charpāī (cār pā’ī, literally “four legs”), a woven bed made of a wooden frame and interlaced rope or cloth, used across many aspects of daily life.

After a while, the family’s daughter brings out chā’e (cā’e, milk tea), and the conversation gently carries on.
It is a small, unhurried moment in the everyday rhythms of rural life in Pakistan.

February 24, 2025
Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan
KAGAWA, Erika