Light & Life Photography

Light & Life Photography Light & Life — my photography focused on stillness, the in-between, and what most people walk past. Real moments. No pretence. Prints: lightandlife.au

I’m David Pleydell — photographer, storyteller, and the eye behind Light & Life. My work is about truth in the frame. Whether it’s a fog-draped Melbourne street, the quiet resilience in a portrait, or the aftermath of a summer storm, I aim to capture moments exactly as they are — no filters, no pretence. Just light, life, and the space in between. Photography found me early — in 1983, with a batte

red film camera during the Ash Wednesday bushfires. I later trained at the International College of Photography and Cinematography in Melbourne, learning the craft through portraiture. But the raw, unposed world outside the studio kept calling back. I reignited my passion in 2014.
“Most people don’t see what’s right in front of them — I do.”
I’m drawn to details everyone else walks past. A fog-limned streetlight, the glint of wet asphalt, the exact moment a storm decides to roll in — that’s where my lens lives. People often say, “I never knew my suburb was so beautiful.” That’s because most folks don’t look. I do — and my camera does too. Today, my work moves between:
Still Cityscapes — the Melbourne you never knew was still, foggy, or empty. Weather’s wild moods — storms, fog, and everything in between. Everyday people — portraits that feel real, not posed. I believe a photograph should breathe — capturing a moment without suffocating it in editing. When I’m not behind the lens:
You’ll find me experimenting on a DIY invention, road-tripping with my family, muddying up the bush with a fishing rod, or quietly fighting the urge to make every project bigger than it needs to be. A campfire and a cold one? That’s my reset. If my work makes you feel like you were standing there… smelling the rain, tasting the fog, hearing the stillness — the story is already shared. And that’s the point.

This place should have been loud.Lights on.Swings still.No one there.Have you ever seen somewhere that felt wrong being ...
06/04/2026

This place should have been loud.

Lights on.
Swings still.
No one there.

Have you ever seen somewhere that felt wrong being this quiet?

05/04/2026

For a long time, I shared my photography under my own name.

But over time, I realised something — what draws me in isn’t perfection.

It’s the quiet.
The in-between.
The moments most people walk past.

Light & Life is where my work now lives.

Nothing artificial. Nothing forced.
Just what’s already there.

Stillness over perfection.
Real moments. No pretence.

– David

It started earlier than I realised.I was 14 during the Ash Wednesday bushfires here in Victoria.Not photographing the ch...
05/04/2026

It started earlier than I realised.

I was 14 during the Ash Wednesday bushfires here in Victoria.
Not photographing the chaos — but what was left after. The smoke. The silence. The stillness once everything had passed.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that moment shaped how I see everything now.

I’ve never been drawn to perfection.
I’m drawn to what remains.

This image wasn’t planned.
Just two figures standing in a landscape that had already told its story.

Beauty and damage. Stillness and weight.
That space in between — that’s where I work.

Most people walk past moments like this.

I don’t.

— Light & Life

As in the past it's finding the quiet in Craigieburn I love. Foreground of quietness for listening to fav music / podcas...
28/03/2026

As in the past it's finding the quiet in Craigieburn I love. Foreground of quietness for listening to fav music / podcast or just to close your eyes and take a moment, while in the background life rushes by.

Way too long for me not to be doing photography. Simply hard to find the time. A revamp of some previous work. Minimal e...
01/03/2026

Way too long for me not to be doing photography. Simply hard to find the time. A revamp of some previous work. Minimal editing. The story of between.

The road disappears into the quiet.
09/08/2025

The road disappears into the quiet.

Ok it's been a long time but time for a bit of a revamp. New site new logo. www.lightandlife.au
09/08/2025

Ok it's been a long time but time for a bit of a revamp. New site new logo. www.lightandlife.au

Nothing Moves but the Rain
29/07/2025

Nothing Moves but the Rain

WOW at a year since last post. Some photos taken from our trip to Ulupna Island on the Murray River. Mother nature sure ...
15/01/2025

WOW at a year since last post. Some photos taken from our trip to Ulupna Island on the Murray River. Mother nature sure did put on a display Sunday night.

That’s a fair question. 😳
10/05/2022

That’s a fair question. 😳

How can I get any work done with this cutie snoring her head off right next to me.
24/04/2022

How can I get any work done with this cutie snoring her head off right next to me.

Address

Craigieburn, VIC

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 12pm
Tuesday 9am - 12pm
Wednesday 9am - 12pm
Thursday 9am - 12pm
Friday 9am - 12pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 9am - 8pm

Telephone

+61497687920

Website

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