Since his boyhood in Charleston, S.C., Glenn Lewis has loved architecture and history. He sold his first photograph while a student at Clemson University, where a professor urged him to make photography his profession.

Instead, Mr. Lewis spent 30 years employed as a project supervisor and construction engineer, overseeing construction work at Montefiore, Shadyside and Mayview hospitals. He did not return to his camera until 2002.

Two years ago, he volunteered to photograph the stained-glass windows in each of the 116 private family mausoleums at Homewood Cemetery in Squirrel Hill. Today, 25 photographs from the yearlong project will be shown in a free exhibit at the cemetery's reception chapel, where they will remain on view for one week.

"He's done a great job for us," said Jeff Hodes, a consultant to the cemetery.

Mr. Lewis of McCandless is well acquainted with Pittsburgh's impressive trove of stained glass. His images illustrate a 2008 book about Charles J. Connick, who was hailed as "the world's greatest contemporary craftsman in stained glass" in an obituary in The New York Times. The book, by architectural historian Albert M. Tannler, is "Charles J. Connick: His Education and His Windows in and Near Pittsburgh."

In the private mausoleums at Homewood Cemetery, "some of the stained glass is very bright and some is very dark," Mr. Lewis said, adding that it was best to take the photographs on very cloudy days.

Mr. Lewis took at least four photos of each mausoleum, creating a binder filled with more than 460 images. The binder is part of the cemetery's records.

"If there was a broken stained-glass window, I took details of the broken glass," the photographer said, adding that he also documented the mausoleums' architecture.

Keys to the doors of the stone mausoleums are especially flat, wide and thin. Some are steel, others brass, and a few are bronze. Occasionally, the doors did not open. In those instances, he took a picture through the glass. But most of the time, he was able to open the doors to take close-ups.

Founded in 1878, Homewood was designed as a park with a large lawn and pond just inside its entrance. Large mausoleums "were not really conducive to what the 1878 board intended," said Marilyn Evert, director of development for the Homewood Cemetery historical fund. But they soon became popular with a certain class of mourners.

Homewood opened before the first golden age of memorial art, which began in the 1890s and lasted until about 1920. During that period, Pittsburgh's wealthy residents built mausoleums to demonstrate their material and social success. The structures are usually made of limestone or granite and feature ornamental details and well-made stained glass. The Heinz family's mausoleum dates to 1898. In 1907, one family built a mausoleum in the shape of a pyramid.

"Mausoleums went out of fashion after World War II," said Ms. Evert, co-curator of the exhibition. She added that there was a second surge of memorial art in mausoleums during the 1920s and 1930s, reflecting the art deco and art nouveau movements.

Tom Roberts, who retired this year as president of Homewood and Allegheny cemeteries, also asked Mr. Lewis to document the stained glass at Allegheny Cemetery, which has 96 mausoleums.

The exhibition opens today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the chapel reception room, which is inside the cemetery's main administrative building at 1599 S. Dallas Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free.

Homewood Cemetery is seeking submissions of digital images from photographers who have captured the burial ground's landscape in various seasons, its natural beauty or unusual tombstones. The images will be judged by a jury, and some will be published in a 2011 calendar. All photos must be digital and submitted to this e-mail address: hchfphotos@aim.com.

Deadline for submission is Sept. 1.

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