Photographer Catherine Opie once referred to sunrise and sunset as “the biggest cliché in photography.” While Opie's series of photos “Twelve Miles to the Horizon” deals with the very subjects — sunrise and sunset — that she deemed cliché, I think it's safe to say that Opie succeeded in approaching sunrise and sunset in a slightly different way.
That's the thing with clichés, especially those of an artistic nature — it may have been done before, but creating a compelling piece is rooted more in presentation, the “spin” the artist puts on it. And sometimes, it just doesn't matter; there are some clichés we never tire of looking at. The colourful lake sunsets below may be cliché subject matter, but they are all so well done that it's hard to not absorb the sense of tranquillity they confer and temporarily lose yourself in their beauty.
