April 15, 2020

I'M NOT TIRED JUST EXHAUSTED

by Morgan Vickery

From the couch of his Brooklyn apartment, photographer Cobey Arner, reflects on his past year and a half via his iPhone photo archive. His minimalistic viewpoint pays homage to delightful, simple details, like raindrops on a mirror, and color coordinated interiors. Yesterday, the New York creative published 100+ of his favorite images in “I’M NOT TIRED JUST EXHAUSTED,” a title which most of us can relate to. Commenting on his second photo book Cobey says:

“I’ve had this title for about a year. I was taking a ferry to Boston, and an elderly woman had just climbed the stairs to the upper deck. As she sat down, she said to her friends, “I’m not tired, just exhausted,” which really stuck with me for some reason. I thought it was fitting for the these times, as most of us are sleeping more than ever, hyper-aware of our health, yet somehow still mentally exhausted by the state of the world. A lot of the images take on an ironic and almost sarcastic tone in light of recent events. Brooklyn, midtown, the deep south, and Paris are represented in the photos. It’s a weird time to be putting out new work, but I think this book maintains a certain hopefulness, lightheartedness, and if anything else, offers me a sort of reflection on the last year and a half of my life when we could all travel, walk around freely, etc. Quarantine has forced me to refocus on iPhone images as a medium, seeing as how most photo labs have shut down in response to the global pandemic. “INTJE” serves as a reminder of the old adage: to start where I am, use what I have, and do what I can.”