The phrase "a controversial image" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to an image that provokes differing opinions or debates among viewers.
Example: "The artist's latest work features a controversial image that has sparked discussions about societal norms."
Alternatives: "a provocative image" or "a divisive image".
Fashion, never adverse to a controversial image or a bad girl, has kept this one close to hand.
The Iranian supreme leader's website has posted a controversial image equating the executions in Saudi Arabia with the practices of the so-called Islamic State.
Mario Balotelli is facing the possibility of FA discipline and even match banning after he was criticised for anti-Semitism for posting a controversial image on Instagram.
A South African newspaper has removed a controversial image of Jacob Zuma from its website, after coming under pressure from the African National Congress (ANC), explaining: "The atmosphere is like a tinderbox".
At the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a student magazine celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series called "Hong Kong's Coming Culture War," which included an article illustrated with a colonial-era Hong Kong flag — a controversial image sometimes used at protests.
Making money from products with a controversial image.
The contribution Errol Morris made to visual politics earlier this summer, in explaining his Abu Ghraib film, was to emphasize how much the elements of a highly controversial image tend to get missed or "looked past" in the strong emotional and ideological reactions to the overall image.
The results of Calipari's efforts to raise money through technology have been a step in revamping his often controversial image of a coach who took Memphis and Massachusetts to the Final Four, but both programs were ordered to give up their victories in those seasons because of N.C.A.A. violations.
In a candid interview with the New York Times, Cyrus proves she not only doesn't understand why her VMAs performance was dubbed a "minstrel show," but contends that her controversial image is really just an act.
The most controversial image is a lightly bloodstained sheet, which they felt was important to show: they were certainly not the first women to face a long trek home, bleeding and sore.
Authorities in the U.K. have blocked access to the Wikipedia page for the German heavy-metal band the Scorpions because of the controversial image of a pre-pubescent nude girl on the cover of their 1976 album, "Virgin Killer".
