Hermann Wilhelm Vogel

Hermann Wilhelm Vogel studied at Gewerbeinstitut Berlin. Alfred Stieglitz and Karl Schwier are recorded as having studied under Hermann Wilhelm Vogel. The recorded working language is German. The field of work recorded is photochemistry. Residence is recorded at Berlin. Employment is recorded with Mineralogical Museum (Berlin), Gewerbeinstitut Berlin and Royal College for Vocational Studies. Positions recorded include wissenschaftlicher Assistent and docent. Work by Hermann Wilhelm Vogel is recorded in the collections of Städel Museum. Distinctions recorded are honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany).

• Name — Hermann Wilhelm Vogel • Born — 26 March 1834 • Birthplace — Dobrilugk, Kingdom of Prussia • Died — 17 December 1898 • Place of death — Berlin, German Empire • Field — Photochemistry, photography • Workplaces — Technische Universität Berlin • Education — University of Berlin • Doctoral Advisor — Karl Friedrich August Rammelsberg • Doctoral Students — Alfred Stieglitz

After finishing school in Frankfurt (Oder), he studied at the Royal Industrial Institute of Berlin, earning his Ph.D. with Karl Friedrich August Rammelsberg in 1863. Vogel's thesis, which was published in Poggendorffs Annalen, had the title: Über das Verhalten des Chlorsilbers, Bromsilbers und Iodsilbers im Licht und die Theorie der Photographie (Reactions of Silver Chloride, Silver Bromide and Silver Iodide with Light and the Theory of Photography). This marked the beginning of his research into the photographic process. From 1860 until 1865, he was an assistant in the mineralogical museum of the University of Berlin. From 1864 he was a professor at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg (today Technische Universität Berlin), where he introduced photography as a field of study. From 1884, he was director of the photo-technical laboratory of TH Charlottenburg.

In 1873 Vogel discovered dye sensitization, a pivotal contribution to the progress of photography. The photographic emulsions in use at that time were sensitive to blue, violet and ultraviolet light, but only slightly sensitive to green and practically insensitive to the rest of the spectrum. While trying out some factory-made collodion bromide dry plates from England, Vogel was amazed to find that they were more sensitive to green than to blue. He sought the cause and his experiments indicated that this sensitivity was due to a yellow substance in the emulsion, apparently included as an anti-halation agent. Rinsing it out with alcohol removed the unusual sensitivity to green. He then tried adding small amounts of various aniline dyes to freshly prepared emulsions and found several dyes which added sensitivity to various parts of the spectrum, closely corresponding to wavelengths of light the dyes absorbed. Vogel was able to add sensitivity to green, yellow, orange and even red. This made photography much more useful to science, allowed a more satisfactory rendering of colored subjects into black-and-white, and brought actual color photography into the realm of the practical. In the early 1890s, Vogel's son Ernst assisted German-American photographer William Kurtz in applying dye sensitization and three-color photography to halftone printing, so that full-color prints could be economically mass-produced with a printing press.

Hermann Wilhelm Vogel worked in photochemistry. He was employed by Mineralogical Museum (Berlin), Gewerbeinstitut Berlin, Royal College for Vocational Studies, Bauakademie and Technische Hochschule Berlin. Recorded positions include scientific assistent, docent and professor. He belonged to Photographischer Verein zu Berlin, Société française de Wothlytypie, German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and Royal Photographic Society. He worked at Berlin.

Hermann Wilhelm Vogel is recorded as having received honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany). Recognition and collections. Vogel received honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany).