  I review the current observational status of the faint end of the optical
luminosity function of field galaxies at low redshift. There is growing
evidence for an excess number of dwarf galaxies that is not well fit by a
single Schechter function. These dwarf galaxies tend to be of late
morphological and spectral type, blue in colour, of low surface brightness and
currently undergoing significant star formation.

Astrophysics