I review selected state-of-the art observations of the solar photosphere at the highest possible spatial resolution with a special emphasis on properties that can directly be compared with current MHD simulations. Observations of the solar surface have made big advances during the last decade thanks to new telescopes and new data processing approaches. I will provide an overview of the latest observations and discuss parameters such as the rms contrast and other statistical parameters that can be directly related to state-of-the-art MHD simulations.