We review recent optical observations of the solar photosphere and chromosphere with an emphasis on those observations that attain spatial resolution values below 0.25″. Results from the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on La Palma, the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) on Sacramento Peak, and the Vacuum Tower Telescope (VTT) on Tenerife are reviewed. Particular emphasis is placed on results from the newly commissioned Swedish 1-meter Solar Telescope (SST) on La Palma following our successful campaigns at this instrument in 2002 and 2003. The SST with adaptive optics can now achieve 0.1″ resolution imaging of the Sun in multiple simultaneous wavelengths. Scientific findings on the structure of sunspot penumbrae and lightbridges, small-scale magnetic elements, and faculae at the limb are reviewed. The Lockheed Solar Optical Universal Polarimeter (SOUP) birefringent tunable filter at the SST produced 0.16″ resolution magnetograms in the summer of 2003 that have shed new light on the structure and dynamics of small-scale magnetic fields in the solar photosphere.
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