Portuguese stereographers / publishers - Aurélio da Paz dos Reis

Aurelio da Paz dos Reis (1862-1931) was a fascinating character and a prominent member of the Oporto society of the late 19th / early 20th centuries. His main business was an horticultural shop in the centre of Oporto, called "Flora Portuense" (which may be seen on several picture postcards of the "Praça D. Pedro"). He was one of the pioneering cinematographers in Portugal, an activity that he carried out as early as 1896 [CPMC 1996, p. 8], and where he tried to set up business, but which he abandoned a few years later. Aurélio was always very interested in photography, including stereoviews (which he sold at his horticultural shop, together with stereoviewers and cameras). In spite of selling views and equipment, he considered himself an amateur photographer. He was also deeply involved in the political struggles of his time, having participated in the republican revolt that took place in Oporto in 1891 (preceding the establishment of the republican regimen in Portugal by nearly 20 years), and holding political positions in the City Hall in later years.
Aurelio's activity as a photographer is known through many images that were preserved by his family and later offered to the Portuguese Centre of Photography, which published a beautiful book describing Aurelio's life and activity [CPF 1998]. He produced a large number of stereoviews, sometimes very interesting, but occasionally very dull (his photographic archive, as presented in [CPF 1998], shows far better images than many of those that survived as stereoviews). The images tend to fade over the years. He also produced the family's greetings postcards, which normally bring us a lovely insight into his family life. In one of these postcards, illustrated on the right (courtesy of Fernando Silva), the complete family toasts to the new year of 1906 (from left to right: Hugo, Hilda, Palmira, Aurélio, Homero, and Horácio — the children's names always started by an "H").

Aurélio used several card mounts. Those that came to my knowledge are illustrated below:

	Beige (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez". Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal" (courtesy of Alexandre Ramires).
	Beige (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez". Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis — Phot. amador - Porto".
	Light grey (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalha de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900" (refers to the medal obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal". A lovely view of Aurélio's family (courtesy of Mário Marques).
	Light beige (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalha de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900" (refers to the medal obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal".
	(Sort of) red (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalha de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900." (refers to the medal obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal".
	Orange (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalha de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900." (refers to the medal obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibitions of Paris in 1900). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal" (courtesy of Nuno Borges de Araújo).
	Orange (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalha de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900." (refers to the medal obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibitions of Paris in 1900). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal". Interestingly, Aurélio includes the logo of his horticultural shop (reproduced at left) on the upper right (courtesy of Nuno Borges de Araújo).
	Orange curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalhas de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900 e na Universal de S. Luiz de 1904." (refers to the medals obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibitions of Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal". Notice the logo of the horticultural shop (upper right), as in the view above.
	Grey (slightly) curved card mount with round-corner images. Printed vertically on the left: "Estereoscopio Portuguez - Premiado com medalhas de prata na Exposição Universal de Paris de 1900 e na Universal de S. Luiz de 1904." (refers to the medals obtained by Aurélio's stereoviews in the Universal Exhibitions of Paris in 1900 and St. Louis in 1904). Printed vertically on the right: "Aurélio da Paz dos Reis - Porto - Portugal". Notice once again the logo of the horticultural shop (courtesy of Nuno Borges de Araújo).

Further reading:

[CPF 1998]
Centro Português de Fotografia, Manual do Cidadão Aurélio da Paz dos Reis, 332 p., 1998, ISBN 972-8451-04-0.

[CPMF 1996]
Cinemateca Portuguesa - Museu do Cinema, Aurélio da Paz dos Reis, 26 p. (+ 38 p.), 1996, ISBN 972-619-100-9.

(see the views)

ANTIQUE STEREOVIEWS OF PORTUGAL
Copyright © 2003 J. M. Martins Ferreira. All Rights Reserved.