young Americans who subscribed to his views on
veganism and clean living. Ironically, the unaccus-
tomed pressure of that role may have contributed to
Phoenix’s substance abuse and untimely death,
which shocked the acting world and garnered com-
parisons to the tragic death of James Dean.
Further Reading
Glatt, John.Lost in Hollywood: The Fast Times and Short
Life of River Phoenix. New York: Donald I. Fine, 1995.
Robb, Brian J.River Phoenix: A Short Life. New York:
HarperPerennial, 1994.
Stempel, Penny.River Phoenix. Philadelphia: Chelsea
House, 1999.
Amy Sisson
See also Academy Awards; Drug use; Film in the
United States; Reeves, Keanu.
Photography
Definition An art form whereby images are
produced through the manipulation of
technology
During the 1990’s, advancements in technology brought
forth a whole new revolution in photography. With the in-
troduction of digital imaging, both professional and ama-
teur photographers were able to have more control over the fi-
nal image.
Technology resulted in much progress in photogra-
phy during the twentieth century, and the 1990’s saw
several revolutionary advances. During the 1980’s,
Kodak introduced the Disc camera, which became
the precursor to digital imaging. In 1985, Minolta
produced the first autofocus single-lens reflex
(SLR) system camera known as Maxxum. With these
advancements in technology, it was becoming al-
most unnecessary for anyone to be knowledgeable
about the mechanical end of photography. The cam-
eras had the capacity seemingly to handle all techni-
cal issues for the user. With the introduction of digi-
tal photography, the medium was dramatically
altered forever.
These advancements changed not only the way in
which individuals would take photographs but also
what they could do with the images. Since digital
cameras allowed for immediate results, images
would appear in an instant on the camera’s screen. If
the image was not satisfactory, then it could be easily
deleted. The photographer did not have to worry
about wasting film because there was no film. The
best digital images could be loaded onto a computer.
Once the images were saved, it was possible with the
use of various computer programs to alter, retouch,
and crop each image as desired.
Digital Revolution In 1990, Adobe Photoshop in-
troduced Photoshop 1.0 for the Macintosh operat-
ing system used on Apple computers. This computer
graphics editing program allowed images to be ma-
nipulated. It was not until 1992 that a version of
Photoshop could work with Microsoft Windows op-
erating systems. By 2007, Photoshop was in its tenth
iteration. In 1991, Kodak released a photo CD sys-
tem that allowed photographers to store their digital
images for the first time.
The next year, Kodak introduced the DCS-100
digital SLR camera, the first digital SLR to be made
commercially available. During the 1990’s, several
other companies also released digital SLR cameras,
including Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Panasonic, Olym-
pus, and Fujifilm. A consortium of manufacturers re-
leased the Advanced Photographic System (APS) in- By this same year, the prices on mass-market
digital cameras had become competitive with more
conventional cameras. The first megapixel camera
that could be used by the public was introduced in - By 2000, digital photography was being
adopted by more and more professional photogra-
phers. The price for these professional digital cam-
eras, however, remained at several thousand dollars.
For the public, digital cameras eventually became
less expensive. Depending on the desired camera
features, an easy-to-use, high-quality digital camera
could be bought for less than five hundred dollars by
the end of the decade.
As a strong indicator of the trend toward market
dominance of digital cameras, close to 80 percent of
the cameras sold by both Nikon and Canon were dig-
ital cameras by 2003. Taking this trend to heart, most
major manufacturers of cameras increased the num-
ber of digital models available for sale by the turn of
the twenty-first century.
Exhibitions, Publications, Media Events The Mu-
seum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York put on
the exhibitPhotography Until Nowin 1990. In the
same year, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns
made use of historic photographs from the Ameri-
The Nineties in America Photography 669