SNL's Sure-Shot Photographer Herds Celebrities, and Once a Live Llama
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Mary Ellen Matthews has put some of the biggest celebrities in the world in some strange situations. She’s wedged Andy Samberg into an olive in a martini glass, dressed up Sarah Silverman as a chambermaid and had real-life Donald Trump spritz ersatz Trump hairspray on his coif. It’s all part of her job as lead photographer for “Saturday Night Live,” where her portraits, including those iconic bumpers that appear before and after the commercials, are as integral to NBC’s sketch comedy show as Kate McKinnon’s Kellyanne Conway impersonation.
Matthews celebrates her 25th anniversary with the show this year, having joined as an assistant photographer in 1992 and rising to lead photographer in 1999, succeeding the great Edie Baskin.
Now in its 43rd season, “SNL” is arguably more relevant now than in Matthews’ earliest days at Studio 8H, where the show broadcasts from inside 30 Rockefeller Center. “SNL” is enjoying its second-most-watched season in 23 years, just behind the previous one, which averaged over 11 million viewers per episode.
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