26 November 2019

Rachel and Lewis Gardner with baby Hugo at the photo unveiling.

It’s the before-and-after photo with a difference, and one little Hugo Gardner may come to treasure in time.

A photograph of his pregnant mother Rachel, beautifully captured against the sunset on Castlecliff beach by dad Lewis, was submitted to a Whanganui District Health Board competition.

The stunning image now has pride of place on the Whanganui Hospital wall that leads to the therapies departments after the chosen photos were unveiled last week.

And the Gardner family were among invitees to the unveiling ceremony, with Hugo – now six months old – able to check out the time he was no more than a silhouetted baby bump.

Professional photographer Lewis Gardner’s image, “Mum To Be” was among more than 200 entries for the DHB competition. The aim was to brighten up the hospital and make it more welcoming with photos of local people in local surroundings.

As well as adorning the corridor to the therapies and radiology departments, photos will be mounted in other parts of the hospital and at other DHB facilities.

Lewis Gardner’s stunning image, ‘Mum To Be’.