Suzanne Opton's intriguing "Soldier" billboards, now popping up across the country, are receiving predictably mixed reactions. The ads are part of an art project by Opton, who's been photographing U.S. soldiers upon their return from Iraq and Afghanistan. The images look rather ghoulish, but while the soldiers look dead, they're actually alive. Opton insists the images are meant to be artistic, not political, but that seems willfully naive. They engage a topic that's under intense debate and has far-reaching legislative and social consequences—it doesn't get much more political than that. We're not trying to tell Opton how to do her job, but if you want to provoke people, then provoke them.

—Posted by David Kiefaber