According to a report in the New York Times, photographer João Silva was "wounded in his legs while moving through an area near the town of Arghandab," in southern Afghanistan. He "was evacuated from the scene and taken to Kandahar Air Field, where he is receiving treatment."

The photographer and New York Times reporter Carlotta Gall were embedded with a unit of the 4th Infantry Division. According to the newspaper, three American soldiers "sustained concussions," as a result of the explosion. "A group of minesweepers and bomb-sniffing dogs had already moved over the area several steps ahead of Mr. Silva when the bomb went off," writes Dexter Filkins of the New York Times.

According to Agence France Presse, Gall wrote in the New York Times this week that American and Afghan forces had, lately, been "routing" the Taliban in much of the province [of Kandahar]. "Kandahar is the hub of the Taliban-led insurgency and one of the most dangerous places in the country," according to the news wire.

Silva has photographed wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, southern Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East, the newspaper continues. "João is the state-of-the-art war photographer, fearless but careful, with an amazing eye," says Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times. "We’re all waiting anxiously and praying for his quick recovery."

Although born in Portugal, the photographer made his name in South Africa when, in the 1990s, he was part of what was known as the Bang-Bang Club, a group of four photographers who worked in South Africa after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and up-until the first elections in 1994. The other three members were Kevin Carter, Greg Marinovich and Ken Oosterbroek. Carter won, in 1994, the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his controversial picture of a vulture overlooking a young and starving Sudanese girl. In July 1994, Carter took his own life. Oosterbroek died in April 1994 while covering clashes between peacekeepers and supporters of the African National Congress.

Their stories have been made into a film - The Bang Bang Club: Snapshots From a Hidden War - that premiered at the Toronton International Film Festival in September. The film was shot on location in the Thokoza Township in Johannesburg last year.

According to his website, Silva started his career in photography in 1989 before working for the Alberton Record, a local South African newspaper.

UPDATE (Sunday 24 October - 1AM): Silva has been airlifted to Germany from Kandahar earlier on Saturday 23 October. His wife, Vivian, has told South African Press Association that she is trying to get a visa to join her husband.

On the New York Times website, columnist Nicholas Kristof writes of "the courage and commitment of the reporters and photographers based in places like Iraq and Afghanistan." He adds: "And the truth is that it’s the photographers who usually end up taking the biggest risks of all. A reporter can get information from a distance, but a photographer or cameraman has to be right in the middle of the action. That’s why my first rule of war reporting is never to accept a ride in a car from a photographer — if they hear gunfire, they’ll rush toward it. But I’m just full of admiration for the work they do, and the courage and grace Joao and his small band of colleagues show in doing it."

UPDATE 2 (Sunday 24 October - 11AM): Keller has written to the New York Times' staff, providing more details of Silva's injuries. "Medics were able to reach Mr. Silva within seconds of the blast," says the New York Times. "They applied tourniquets, administered morphine, moved him onto a stretcher and into a helicopter. He underwent surgery at a military hospital in Kandahar Province. He was next flown to Bagram Air Base, near Kabul, to have his wounds cleaned and examined, before being transported to Germany." Read the full report in Widespread Impact From an Afghan Blast, written by Michael Kamber and David W. Dunlap.

UPDATE 3 (Monday 25 October - 9AM): In a statement, Robert Christie, the New York Times spokesman, says that Silva has "lost portions of both legs." He adds that the photographer also suffered from "some pelvic damage and internal bleeding." But, "here’s all you need to know about the guy … Carlotta [Gall] reports that João kept shooting pictures after the blast, as the medics expertly applied tourniquets, gave him morphine and stretchered him to the helicopter."

UPDATE 4 (Monday 15 November - 1PM): Friends of João Silva have set up a PhotoShelter account for visitors to help support the injured photographer by purchasing a print or making a donation. Visit joaosilva.photoshelter.com.

Visit Joao Silva's website at www.joaosilva.co.za.