Paul McCartney, Robert De Niro, Scarlett Johansson, Beyonce, Kelly Ripa, Alec Baldwin, Paul Simon, Jon Bon Jovi, Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Lopez. . . . You may not know Mary Ellen Matthews, but you know her subjects, and these are only a few who happen to have a South Fork connection.
In a 30-year career at "Saturday Night Live," and more than 20 years as its head photographer, she has amassed an enviable archive of hundreds of celebrity portraits, cast photos, head shots, and behind-the-scenes moments. The show itself will mark 50 years in 2025, and there is much to plan for in the celebration, most as yet to be revealed.
Reflecting on her own milestone, she said, "I have a huge sense of being part of a family when I think of 'Saturday Night Live.' It has been incredible to work with Lorne [Michaels, the show's executive producer], and having him trust me and my work has allowed me to have a ton a creative input into what I do. I feel so grateful that each show is another opportunity to try new things and to push myself both technically and artistically."
The boat slips around Baron's Cove were barren on a cool but still May day as she sat in an Adirondack chair on the empty porch of the Sag Harbor inn and restaurant in preparation for a chat. In a tweedy blazer, denim shirt, and jeans, accented with silver and turquoise jewelry and cowboy boots, with long, loose, wavy brown hair with hints of auburn, the Springs resident appeared a little bit corporate and a larger bit rock-and-roll. The look underlined her creative and professional vibe.
"My job to me is to make it fun and easy, and come up with some great concepts so we can all collaborate together," she said of the way she works with the staff and the weekly guests. Although she treats each photograph as an artwork, "being in that environment and what it is, a comedy show, our department isn't trying to do something that's not fun. It has to have some joy to it."
Although she is responsible for a lot on the show, including its opening credits, she is known for the visual punch of what are called "bumpers": photos, bursts, and videos between the sketches and musical performances and commercials. Think images of Sarah Silverman dusting off the marquee on 30 Rock, Andy Samberg in a martini glass, Edward Norton in a recreation of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks," Don Cheadle as a flower, Paul Rudd as a very young Paul McCartney.
In fact, she said Mr. McCartney was her all-time favorite subject. Her image of him giving the peace sign, after he played a medley of "A Day in the Life" and "Give Peace a Chance" to mark the anniversary of John Lennon's death, was a stunning and affecting end to the segment as they went to commercial.
The episode was broadcast Dec. 11, 2010, and Mr. Rudd was host. Ms. Matthews shot Mr. Rudd first while Mr. McCartney was rehearsing. "We were both, as well as everyone else in the studio, in absolute awe listening" to him and his band play. Instead of just the two songs planned for the show (on air he ended up performing five), "he played many other Beatles tunes for everyone in the studio who was working during the rehearsals."
It was at the end of the photo shoot for Mr. Rudd that she thought of dressing him up as the early Fab Four Paul. The wardrobe and hair department "sprung into action to make this idea happen." The music department even found a left-handed bass somewhere in New York City. ("We couldn't use Paul's Hofner bass as it's a far too rare and important musical instrument.") She said it was another "testament to how everyone on the show works together to have an idea come to life."
When it came time to shoot Mr. McCartney, "I think it was very apparent I was starstruck or in a moment of awe. And he loosened up the moment by saying, 'My wife was a photographer' " and helping her move some props around. She was touched that he gave her a chance to relax.
Having described the bumpers conceptually as billboards, movie posters, or album covers, she is often inspired by those same materials, along with high and low art, and whatever else a particular subject sparks in her. When she gets stuck, she has amassed a visual reference library in her office of images and ideas to keep the creativity flowing.
It's a process that requires the right balance of fun and polish in order to accomplish the task at hand, creating and executing several concepts for stills and a couple of videos for each host, and then stills or videos for the musical guest. She's also responsible for the content for social media posts.
Since 2010, she has taken on responsibility for videos and the opening credits. They are usually done all over the city, but last season they used a single location. "Having it in one place and at the Chelsea Hotel, which is so beautiful, matched the legacy brand of the show in a way, both having been a part of New York City for such a long time. The two paired up very well." It has been submitted for Emmy consideration, the first time the show has put up something for the title design category. "I can't stop smiling at it," she said of the resulting sequence.
"S.N.L." is known for its immutable weekly schedule. The sameness provides structure in the constant state of flux from week to week. Ms. Matthews plans ahead as much as possible, but there are times when "I don't really know too much in advance."
The pitch meetings are on Mondays. Writing happens on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are for reading and selecting the sketches. Thursdays and Fridays are for blocking and designing the show. Saturdays have a full daytime run-through, an evening dress rehearsal, and then the live show.
Shooting the photos and videos of the host and musicians takes place on Thursdays. She might have 90 minutes, often an hour, and sometimes only 20 minutes to execute four to five concepts with wardrobe, hair, and makeup changes, along with props and sets, like a show in miniature.
After all the shoots, the crew looks at each other as if to say, " 'Well, that just happened.' We accomplish so much so quickly, it's like, 'Wow, we just did it again.' "
Ms. Matthews came aboard as Edie Baskin's assistant in 1993 and replaced her upon her retirement in 1999. Ms. Baskin "started this idea of the photography as a graphic element to the show from pretty much the very beginning," she said. "All I wanted to do is make her proud, but also keep the sense of cool in what this show was trying to convey, and just keep up that level of work."
Before that she had studied photography in college and worked as an intern at MTV and a rock radio station. "I was pounding the pavement with my newly refreshed resume, and I walked by a movie set," she recalled. "I heard someone say, 'Hey, can you take a picture of me and my friends?' It was Bill Murray."
After she obliged, she asked him for an autograph, but all she had to write on were her resumes. Realizing she was looking for a job, he asked her if she wanted to work with him on the movie. "I jumped at the chance and started the next morning. . . . I worked on that movie all summer, learned so much, and then moved on to the camera department on other productions. So, I have Bill Murray to thank for my start in showbiz."
There is quite a bit of downtime at "S.N.L." to make up for the intensity of show weeks. After a long renovation of her place in Springs, she has moved back in and plans to enjoy the summer there, commuting back and forth when she needs to for work.
Ms. Matthews is compiling a monograph of her "S.N.L." images, something she has been thinking about since an exhibition of them was installed at the John Varvatos store in the old CBGB location on the Bowery in 2010. As a music lover, and having worked as a music publicist as well as toured with bands such as Aerosmith, the connection to the old rock club was meaningful. The book will now likely be timed to the 50th anniversary of the show. She also plans to execute some fine-art photography ideas that have been brewing.
Those breaks are also filled with other work (marketing and key art shoots for films and television shows), hobbies and obsessions such as surfing in Montauk and yard and estate sales, hanging with Nick Kraus at the Stephen Talkhouse, and even taking wedding photos of friends and associates like Ms. Johansson, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Liv Tyler, Kate Hudson, and Mr. Baldwin.
"To be involved in someone's big day like that, to bear witness and to document it is so special," she said. The main thing is "to try not to get in the way. There are a lot of people experiencing the same thing at the same time and you need to document it. Even if it's emotional, you have to stay out of that and just keep saying to yourself, 'Capture the moment, capture the moment.' "
