  Density functional theory (DFT) based modeling of electronic excited states
is of importance for investigation of the photophysical/photochemical
properties and spectroscopic characterization of large systems. The widely used
linear response time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) approach is however not effective at
modeling many types of excited states, including (but not limited to)
charge-transfer states, doubly excited states and core-level excitations. In
this perspective, we discuss state-specific orbital optimized (OO) DFT
approaches as an alterative to TDDFT for electronic excited states. We motivate
the use of OO-DFT methods and discuss reasons behind their relatively
restricted historical usage (vs TDDFT). We subsequently highlight modern
developments that address these factors and allow efficient and reliable OO-DFT
computations. Several successful applications of OO-DFT for challenging
electronic excitations are also presented, indicating their practical efficacy.
OO-DFT approaches are thus increasingly becoming a useful route for computing
excited states of large chemical systems. We conclude by discussing the
limitations and challenges still facing OO-DFT methods, as well as some
potential avenues for addressing them.
