Fancy Rats, An Adorable Photo Series Showcasing the Softer Side of the Often Misunderstood Rodents

In her wonderful photo series “Fancy Rats“, French illustrator and graphic designer Diane Özdamar created adorable scenes that showcase the softer, playful side of the rescued rats whom she and her circle of friends foster. Özdamar’s hope is to remove the stigma often associated with the misunderstood rodent.

As far as I can remember I have always loved rats and any rodent people would call “pest”. When I first got pet rats, I was thrilled to discover they were so clean, smart and affectionate, very far from the nasty dirty rat myth most people believe in. Thus, I decided to rescue and foster abandoned and abused rats until I could find them a forever home. This led me to take pictures of them: finding a home to a rat is not an easy task since they suffer from a very bad reputation and I had to make their cute personalities stand out so people would consider adopting them.