Encore: The Art of the SNL Portrait, with Mary Ellen Matthews

"Live From New York, it's Saturday Night!" That single sentence has become a catchphrase for devotees of comedy and popular culture for more than 50 years—generations of fans who willingly turn their attentions from the height of weekend revelry to the televised antics of Saturday Night Live. 

As this illustrious broadcast wraps its 51st season, we're releasing an encore of our 2025 chat with SNL's photographer-in-residence Mary Ellen Matthews, while we busy ourselves backstage to bring you some exciting changes and an upcoming new look to our own show.

Week in, week out for more than two decades, Mary Ellen has conjured visual magic behind the scenes, creating inventive and irreverent portraits that air for three seconds each as so-called "bumpers" that transition to and from the show's commercial breaks. 

During our spirited chat about what is arguably the world's best photo gig, we follow Mary Ellen from a fateful 1993 phone call, inviting her to assist the show's founding photographer Edie Baskin, through her journey from mentee to team leader. Along the way, we pull back the curtain on the creation of some iconic images and learn what it takes to be "in the driver's seat [with] a whole busload of very important people to take care of."

"My job is to make this easy and fast," she notes. "And I don't want anyone to be overthinking anything because they've got enough to worry about with all the sketches and all the pre-tapes and their responsibilities to the rest of the show, which is the most important thing."

Episode Timeline: 

3:00: Living the dream as SNL's resident photographer while being creative under stressful deadline pressure.

4:44: Mary Ellen's early immersion in photography, at the side of her hobbyist father.

6:56: Arriving in NYC, early work for a record label, and the call to assist SNL's founding photographer in residence, Edie Baskin.

11:55: SNL's transition from film to digital, plus the cameras Mary Ellen shoots with today. 

15:37: Conceptualizing the weekly portrait shoots and collaborating with subjects.

20:31: Behind-the-scenes of a dicey photo shoot, plus SNL's weekly production timeline.

27:25: Episode Break

28:12: Beyond portraits, the images Mary Ellen shoots as props for SNL sketches—sometimes with a 4x5. 

33:11: The scheduling of SNL portrait shoots and getting portrait subjects to have fun.

36:34: Testing for shoots, the atmosphere on-set, and flying by the seat of your pants. 

40:06: Communicating with a celebrity's team to get everyone on the same page about shoots and concepts.

42:30: The general workflow of SNL portrait sessions: from shoot preparation to editing and post-production.

45:07: Advice for emerging photographers looking for work or applying for an internship.

 

Guest Bio: As a top entertainment portrait photographer, Mary Ellen Matthews is specialized in creating iconic images of well-known personalities—from pop stars to sports legends to rock gods. Since 1999, she has been photographer-in-residence at Saturday Night Live, where she's responsible for creating the distinctive look of the show's still images. Through her exuberant presence that puts subjects at ease, her creative and playful styling on set and intensive fine-tuning in post, Matthews produces unique and recognizable portraits under the manic deadlines of live TV. What's more, in 2010, she began directing SNL's video clips, including the show's opening title sequence.

 

Recent clients include Peacock, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Studios, and Prime Video, as well as publications such as Variety, Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, and the Spanish edition of Harper's Bazaar. Most notably, in March 2025, Matthews's first book, The Art of the SNL Portrait, was released to mark the 50th anniversary of this revolution in late night TV. S