Kate Anderson-Song
Student/Creative, New York City
Plants
Kate Anderson-Song is a NYC-based creative, originally from outside of Boston. She grew up on the coast of Massachusetts and was surrounded by nature much of her youth. When she moved to the city, she spent a lot of time noticing the bits of nature. She balances art, writing, music, and acting, while studying cinema at NYU.
Who are you?
A creator and creative. Someone who worries about everything and drinks a lot of caffeine and spends a lot of time very happy in her room. A girl who acts likes a 70 year old or a 7 year old, but doesn’t know how to be in her 20s. A person of color and student and sister/daughter and a lover of stories. And mostly, someone who is very lucky and very thankful for the life she’s leading.
Where are you from and where are you going?
I grew up north of Boston, right on the coast of Massachusetts, but I’m now based in New York City where I go to university.
As for where I’m going, I hope I get a chance to go everywhere eventually. But for now, my soonest “going” will be London, England, for school next semester!
How did you pick the locations you chose to shoot?
My favorite way to spend free time is walking around New York City, and now that I’ve been in Manhattan for 3 years, there are certain paths that have become my favorites. So, I brought the camera along on my walk and tried to capture some of the places that feel like home to me.
Does the lack of plants in an urban setting have significance to you?
I grew up surrounded by nature. The Atlantic ocean was a 5 minute drive from my house. Walk the other direction and you’d end up surrounded by huge maples and pines. My high school was surrounded by salt marshes and river. So, when I moved to the city, I spent a lot of my time noticing the rare bits of nature hidden in Manhattan because they felt like home. I became fascinated with how nature would fight to claim space in the cityscape - tree roots that break up the concrete or vines that take over a wall - and I think these became sort of grounding for me, like a sign of life in the city.
What do you do if you can’t sleep at night?
Create.
Do you collect?
I like to think I collect stories. My own and others.
Tea or coffee?
Both (but tea wins if I have to choose).
What is the strangest thing you believed as a child?
That the people on my television were actors who woke up every morning, got shrunk down to the size of my tv, and performed every show live in the box when I turned it on. For a short moment, I honestly thought that television was just very elaborate live theatre until I realized that it didn’t make sense for the same people to be in multiple TVs.
A color?
Burnt orange - the color of a really vivid sunset or fall leaves.
A city?
New York.
What are your plans for the weekend?
Finishing a midterm paper and rehearsing for a play reading (and hopefully lots of sleep).
A song?
“The Love Club” by Lorde
Your idea of happiness?
A cup of tea, a really good story, and nothing on my to-do list.
Your idea of misery?
Having no one to turn to and nowhere to channel myself.
If not yourself, who would you be?
Not exactly a who, but I would love to be a bird in another life.
Your heroes?
Creative people who lead with kindness and defy easy categorization.
What is your present state of mind?
Constantly reminding myself that “you are in the middle of life and don’t need to be reaching any finish lines.”
Bedside table books?
Currently “An Absolutely Remarkable Thing” by Hank Green, “Dragonfly in Amber” (the second Outlander novel), and Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit.”
Right or left handed?
Left handed.
What is the best dish you can cook?
I’m not much of a cook, but I can bake some mean brownies.
What is your middle name?
August.
What do you do in your free time?
Sing, draw, read, write, watch, explore.
What inspires you?
The world around me.
What do you do for money?
I work at a children’s theater as a stage manager and teacher’s assistant - and I intern at a film distribution company in the city (though I am a full-time student so that takes up most of my time)!
What do you do for pleasure?
Walk around the city, catch up with friends, re-read a favorite book or re-watch a favorite show, jam sessions in my room, doodle in my notebook.