This slide show is taken from the memory card that was in Joao Silva’s camera on Oct. 23 when he stepped on an antipersonnel mine at Checkpoint 16, near the village of Deh-e Kuchay, Afghanistan. Mr. Silva, a contract photographer for The New York Times, and Carlotta Gall, a Times correspondent, were on patrol with a squad of 10 or 15 American soldiers and a unit of Afghan soldiers and police officers.
Mr. Silva lost both his legs in the explosion and suffered internal injuries. He is recovering at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Joao Silva’s damaged equipment.The slides are arranged chronologically, with a gap between the last frame Mr. Silva shot before the mine blew up (Slide 11) and the three pictures he was able to take after the blast (Slide 13). There is no picture of the explosion.
The video clip at the end of the post shows Mr. Silva reviewing his pictures at Walter Reed with Ms. Gall, who wears a red jacket and is speaking with him over his right shoulder; Michele McNally, the director of photography at The Times, seated at his left; and his wife, Vivian, at his right side.
As Ms. Gall recalled in an article, “Troops Tread Lightly in an Afghan Village, Hoping to Clear Bombs and Win Support,” Mr. Silva was ahead of her on the morning of Oct. 23. He had just turned down a side alley and disappeared behind the wall of a ruined compound, following Pvt. Edwin Laplaunt, Sgt. Brian Maxwell and Sgt. Anton Waterman.
Ms. Gall remained on the road with Staff Sgt. Eric Elizey and a medic. There was an explosion. Black smoke rose over the compound. After a few moments of silence, someone called for a medic. The medic ran to the scene, following Sergeant Elizey’s instructions for safe passage. The sergeant then radioed for a medevac helicopter.
“Give me a name,” he shouted over the wall. “Give me a name!”
“It’s the photographer,” came back the reply.
Support Joao Silva Photojournalist has been set up by Greg and Leonie Marinovich, friends of Mr. Silva, to help him and his family as he goes through rehabilitation. Money is being raised through outright donations and the sale of prints by Mr. Silva.
