Isabel Pina Isabel Pina "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis, the pioneer who introduced cinema to Portugal in 1896 with Saída do Pessoal Operário da Fábrica Confiança, later pivoted to stereoscopic photography, leaving an extraordinary archive of 7,294 glass plates. This paper examines how Paz dos Reis navigated the transition from moving image to a sophisticated “aesthetic of immersion” through stereoscopic and panoramic photography. Utilizing the technical versatility of the Mackenstein jumelle stéréopanoramique camera, he bridged the gap between the monumental 19th-century panorama and the portable, domestic intimacy of the stereo card. By reconfiguring the device’s internal divider and lens alignment, Paz dos Reis explored the duality of monocular and binocular vision, adapting large-scale immersive strategies to portraiture, landscapes, and social documentation. This study analyzes his work through the lens of media archaeology, arguing that his panoramic group portraits and urban scenes—captured in Porto, Paris (1900), and Rio de Janeiro (1909)—functioned as “time capsules” of the “effect of presence.” We contend that his practice was not merely a commercial endeavor but a deliberate visual strategy to document Portuguese national identity and the collective experiences of modernity. Ultimately, the stereoscopic legacy of Paz dos Reis demonstrates a critical genealogical link between Victorian optical innovations and the immersive logics of contemporary digital visuality." This article has been double-blind peer reviewed. PDFDocument eng 2026-08-17T12:27:11.352715145Z Mediengeschichte Media history ÖFOS 2012 -- SOZIALWISSENSCHAFTEN (5) -- Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften (508) -- Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften (5080) -- Mediengeschichte (508010) ÖFOS 2012 -- SOCIAL SCIENCES (5) -- Media and Communication Sciences (508) -- Media and Communication Sciences (5080) -- Media history (508010) Stereoskopie Panorama Stereoscopy Aurélio da Paz dos Reis Media Archaeology Immersive Visuality Mackenstein Camera 7020829 b application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/