The person behind Light & Life
Hi, I’m David.
A thoughtful eye.
A little imagination.
I’m David Pleydell, a photographer based in Craigieburn, Melbourne.
I photograph Melbourne’s streets, landscapes and people, drawn to the way weather and light can transform a familiar place.
Photography, for me, is about noticing: the quiet, the in-between, the moments most people walk past or never realise were there.
Explore sessions & services ↗Where it began
Learning to look
a little closer.
It started early. I was 14, during the Ash Wednesday bushfires. What caught my attention was the smoke that lingered afterwards.
That experience shaped the way I look at a scene: often it’s what remains afterwards that holds my attention.
Formal study · 1994–1996
Learning the craft.
Building a foundation.
I spent three years studying photography and business at the International College of Professional Photography and Cinematography in Melbourne, from 1994 to 1996.
I completed an Advanced Certificate of Applied Professional Photography and a Certificate of Professional Photography Business Studies.
Soon after graduating, my work appeared in “The Graduates” feature in the January/February 1997 issue of Commercial Photography magazine.
Photographing people
The moments
between the poses.
In portraiture, the photographs that stayed with me were often made just after the pose, when someone relaxed or forgot the camera was there.
That’s where I work: in the moments when someone feels like themselves. I bring that same attention to portraits and events today, with a little guidance when it helps.
How I see
I don’t chase moments.
I notice them.
I’m drawn to contrast, both visually and emotionally. Beauty and decay. Stillness and movement. Control and chaos.
Sometimes the environment tells as much of the story as the person. A fog-draped street, the quiet resilience in a portrait, the stillness before a storm rolls in. I let the person and the place exist together in the frame.
A personal documentary project
City in Silence
During Melbourne’s 2020–2021 lockdowns, I documented the city as I had never seen it before: empty, quiet, and stripped back to its bones.
City in Silence brings that work together as a record of an extraordinary period in Melbourne’s history, exploring what we notice when everything slows down.
Explore City in Silence ↗Away from the camera
A little time outside.
Away from the camera, you’ll find me road-tripping with my family, out in the bush with a fishing rod, or quietly trying not to make every project bigger than it needs to be.
A campfire and a cold one—that’s my reset.
Your story could be next
Let’s make something
worth keeping.
If my work makes you feel like you were standing there — smelling the rain, tasting the fog, hearing the stillness — then the story’s already been shared.
Explore the sessions, or get in touch about a print, portrait session or event.
About David
I’m David Pleydell, a photographer based in Craigieburn, Melbourne.
I photograph Melbourne’s streets, landscapes and people, drawn to the way weather and light can transform a familiar place.
I started at 14, photographing the smoke that lingered after the Ash Wednesday bushfires. That experience shaped the way I look at a scene: often it’s what remains afterwards that holds my attention.
I later trained in portraiture. The photographs that stayed with me were often made just after the pose, when someone relaxed or forgot the camera was there. I bring that same attention to portraits and events today.
During Melbourne’s 2020–2021 lockdowns, I documented the city’s empty streets. City in Silence brings that work together as a record of an extraordinary period in Melbourne’s history.
Away from the camera, I’m usually road-tripping with my family or out in the bush with a fishing rod. A campfire and a cold one — that’s my reset.
Explore my photographs or get in touch about a print, portrait session or event.