Preview our SPRING 2026 catalog, featuring more than 500 new books on art, photography, design, architecture, film, music and visual culture.
UM YEAH ARTS
Fred Mortagne: Attraper au vol
Catch in the Air
Foreword by Anton Corbijn. Essay by Geoff Rowley.
The world of skateboarding meets architectural beauty
Fred Mortagne is a self-taught French director and photographer who is internationally acclaimed for his images of skateboarding and street photography. Attraper au vol (Catch in the Air) is the culmination of Mortagne’s photographic career, from 2000 to 2015. A feast of lines and angles, his black-and-white compositions blend his subjects into their environments, offering an abstract perspective on architecture, geometry and the human figure. His work intrigues both skaters and nonskaters alike, as it emphasizes the esthetic beauty of skate and urban culture rather than pure performance (although the raw talent of his subjects is readily apparent).
“As a young skate rat in the early nineties, I was super into watching skate videos, and very early I was sensitive to how the videos were made,” he told an interviewer. “When the filming was good, I was super thrilled. This pushed me to begin filming my own clips with my friends, for fun ... for over 30 years, it has been the love of my life. Skateboarding has taken me to so many places--not just physically, but culturally and artistically.”
This book includes a foreword by the world-renowned photographer Anton Corbijn and an essay by legendary skateboarder Geoff Rowley, with whom Mortagne has worked extensively.
Fred Mortagne, also known as French Fred, is a skateboarder, photographer and filmmaker living in France.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Fred Mortagne: Attraper au vol.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Metropolis Magazine
As a skateboarder, photographer and filmmaker, Mortagne gives equal valence to the beauty of the buildings and urban landscapes and to the raw talent of his peers.
GQ
Mark Russell
architecture and geometry are given as much prominence in shots as the skater – even if that happens to be the world's best on a board. The result is a fascinating viewpoint on both the sport and its backdrops.
JUXTAPOZ
…the photographic life’s work of one of the most respected skate film makers and photographers in the world, French artist Fred Mortagne, or better known as French Fred. This photographic essay culminates years of Fred’s work (2000-2015), offering a sublime lens on life.
American Photo
Jeanette D. Moses
Most skateboard photography is hyper-focused on the technical details and the action of a trick, but French photographer Fred Mortagne (more commonly known by his nickname French Fred) isn’t most photographers. In his first book..Mortagne takes a wide view of skateboarding and the culture that surrounds it.
American Photo
Jack Crager
More commonly known by his nickname French Fred, Mortagne takes a wide view of skateboard culture… The result is a graphically dazzling mix of geometry, movement, and blur.
New York Journal of Books
Richard Rivera
Fred Mortagne: Attraper au vol (Caught in the Air) is a kaleidoscopic perspective of skateboard acrobatics being caught in action. Mortagne is fascinated by skateboarding, but his fascination goes far beyond that of being a mere spectator to sharing his sense of weightless liberation and showing us what it is like to be caught in mid-flight.
Featured photograph, captioned "Brandon Westgate. Ollie to fakie. Flume in Kern County, CA, 2015," is reproduced from Attraper au vol (Catch the Air), Um Yeah Arts' new collection of black-and-white skate / architecture photographs by French skateboarder, photographer and director Fred Mortagne, aka French Fred. One of our favorite Holiday Gift Books of 2016, it's also a staff pick at GQ, Metropolis, American Photo and Juxtapoz, which calls the work "a sublime lens on life." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9.25 x 11.75 in. / 132 pgs / 66 b&w. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 GBP £40.00 ISBN: 9781942884088 PUBLISHER: Um Yeah Arts AVAILABLE: 10/25/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Um Yeah Arts. Foreword by Anton Corbijn. Essay by Geoff Rowley.
The world of skateboarding meets architectural beauty
Fred Mortagne is a self-taught French director and photographer who is internationally acclaimed for his images of skateboarding and street photography. Attraper au vol (Catch in the Air) is the culmination of Mortagne’s photographic career, from 2000 to 2015. A feast of lines and angles, his black-and-white compositions blend his subjects into their environments, offering an abstract perspective on architecture, geometry and the human figure. His work intrigues both skaters and nonskaters alike, as it emphasizes the esthetic beauty of skate and urban culture rather than pure performance (although the raw talent of his subjects is readily apparent).
“As a young skate rat in the early nineties, I was super into watching skate videos, and very early I was sensitive to how the videos were made,” he told an interviewer. “When the filming was good, I was super thrilled. This pushed me to begin filming my own clips with my friends, for fun ... for over 30 years, it has been the love of my life. Skateboarding has taken me to so many places--not just physically, but culturally and artistically.”
This book includes a foreword by the world-renowned photographer Anton Corbijn and an essay by legendary skateboarder Geoff Rowley, with whom Mortagne has worked extensively.
Fred Mortagne, also known as French Fred, is a skateboarder, photographer and filmmaker living in France.
