Saturday Night Live follows the same schedule every week. On Mondays, the writers and cast pitch ideas to the host. On Tuesdays, they go heads down writing sketches. On Wednesdays, there’s a table read. Then, on Thursdays, Mary Ellen Matthews enters the picture.
Matthews has been the late-night show’s visionary resident photographer, tasked with taking the bumper shots (images that air before the live taping cuts to commercial) of the talent who comes through the halls of Studio 8H, since 1999. The 59-year-old’s shoots are energized and imaginative. They sometimes recreate classic works of art or iconic scenes from film and TV; feature elaborate costuming or props (think: martinis, miniatures, and mammals), and capture the essence of both celebrity and comedy.
