Is photography more beautiful when it doesn’t look like real life?

The beauty of monochrome, blur, grit, and surreal/abstract photography — that it looks different from reality?

Abstract beauty

I thought about this when studying the work of RICHARD AVEDON. I believe his most successful photos are the ones which the photos look abstracted from reality yet still do with the human form.

This is why I think photography with flash is so successful as well — the ability to create a NEW reality through photography.

This is why photography as an art creation medium is interesting:

How can we make picture perfectly accurate photos of reality, yet make it look abstract and surreal?