“You’re so proud of this chicken!” Mary Ellen Matthews shouts, directing TikTok comedy icon Drew Afualo on the set of Betches’ Women Aren’t Funny shoot. Matthews doesn’t crack a smile — but the rest of us lose it. Because when one of comedy’s most iconic photographers is behind the lens, the process is just as hilarious as the final image.
Case in point: Afualo, styled as a ‘50s housewife in a neon kitchen that feels like a midcentury cookbook cover on acid. Moments later, she’s in a banana costume and clubbing heels. It’s absurd. It’s surreal. And it’s exactly the kind of high-concept hilarity that defines Matthews’ singular creative vision.
The photographer, renowned for her striking photo “bumpers” on Saturday Night Live, has mastered the art of rapid-fire creativity — churning out bold, hilarious, and visually inventive concepts week after week. (For the uninitiated, bumpers are the stylized portrait shots of hosts and musical guests that air between sketches and commercial breaks — a signature part of the SNL experience.) While the pressure of a weekly 11:30 p.m. deadline might rattle most, Matthews thrives on it, driven by an insatiable curiosity. “The part of my job I love the most is brainstorming and coming up with themes and concepts, and seeing all that through, whether it’s wardrobe, props, or set design,” she tells me. “Also, of course, working with talent.”
In addition to Afualo, Matthews has photographed some of the biggest names in Hollywood during her 25-year run at Studio 8H: Emma Stone, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg… the list could fill a book. Literally. In March, she released The Art of the SNL Portrait, a collection of over 200 iconic bumpers appearing in print for the first time. (Matthews jokes the book was almost called All This for Three Seconds — a nod to the massive effort behind images that flash onscreen for mere moments.) The collection spans from 2000 to 2024, featuring everything from Travis Kelce lighting a cigar off a flaming football to Jim Carrey wrangling a llama through Midtown Manhattan.
Narrowing down which portraits made the cut wasn’t easy. “It was so difficult, but the flow of the book showed itself while we were editing all the photos down,” she says. Rather than arranging them chronologically, Matthews grouped the images by rhythm, matching colors, energy, or movement from one photo to the next. Known for bringing motion, props, and humor into the often static world of celebrity photography, she sums up her approach best in the book: “Let’s give them something to do.” (Which probably explains why Afualo ended up juggling 15 bananas on set.)
Unlike the writers at SNL, Matthews doesn’t typically pitch her ideas to hosts or musical guests for approval, unless the concept involves serious logistics (like a high-budget wig or shutting down Central Park for Timothée Chalamet). Instead, she draws from her ever-growing archive of ideas. “I'm always taking everything in — looking for inspiration that isn’t obvious,” she says. “If somebody's wearing something that just looks interesting, or somebody's walking a certain way, or something just catches my eye, I am constantly writing things down. I'm collecting inspiration all the time.”
For example, a Caravaggio show at the Met inspired her to have Casey Affleck play each part in one of the paintings. Art history buffs might notice a bright red telephone at the center of her Renaissance recreation, a humorous addition within a fairly dramatic piece of art by a guy most well-known for his piece titled “The Beheading.”
“If somebody's wearing something that just looks interesting, or somebody's walking a certain way, or something just catches my eye, I am constantly writing things down. I'm collecting inspiration all the time.”
Credits
Interview: Melanie Whyte
Photographer: Mary Ellen Matthews
Stylist: Tabitha Sanchez
Set Design: Dan “Looms” Warden
Hair & Makeup: Adam Simmons
Manicure: Mai Michelle Tran
Chief Content Officer: Kate Ward
VP of Editorial: Katie Corvino
Creative Director: Brittany Levine
Editorial Projects: Emma Sharpe
Talent Director: Shanice Kellman
Motion Graphics: Laura Valencia
Brand Graphics: Nicole Maggio
Video Director: Bryan Russell Smith
Video Editor: McKay Hartwell
Director of Photography: Riede Dervay
Food Stylist: Marilinda Hodgdon
Location: Daylight Studio
Special Thanks: Dylan Hafer, Maddie Mahoney Jack Maloney, Eleni Sabracos, Tess Tregellas
That isn’t to say that the hosts aren’t part of the process. Before she picks up the camera, Matthews will “chit-chat” with talent to get on the same page. “I want them to have fun,” she says, elaborating that it’s all about connecting her ideas with the right person. “Depending on who it is, something is right for somebody.”
My initial assumption is that Matthews must really love pop culture, not only because of her proximity to movie stars and musicians, but also because of how she incorporates clever references into her celebrity portraits — Alec Baldwin as The Godfather or John Mulaney posed as Patti Smith on the cover of the album Horses. And yet, her originality and how she gathers inspiration is refreshing in a way that’s too timeless to fit into any current hyperfixation or microtrend. What directs Matthews’ work is less about what’s splashy at the moment. Even the way she ideates is not driven by trends or even necessarily inspired by the culture drivers she photographs. Instead, she starts with what she thinks is cool, and that, in turn, causes conversation — something that’s become rare in a world that AI is slowly homogenizing. “To put it simply, Matthews is both an artist and a star,” Lorne Michaels writes of her in the book’s foreword.
Matthews learned her “sense of cool” on the job while working under Edie Baskin, the original photographer for Saturday Night Live. “Cool, what is cool? I guess it's different for everybody,” she tells me. “The way that Edie started doing all this, it was such a different time, obviously the ‘70s, but there's something about that that I never want to lose.” She continues, “There is just such a sense of ease and a bit of understatement, maybe. And not to be overly funny, I guess, too — just to keep it cool.”
“There is just such a sense of ease and a bit of understatement, maybe. And not to be overly funny, I guess, too — just to keep it cool.”
Matthews herself is cool. It’s what everyone told me before I met her myself. “Mary Ellen is so cool,” one coworker slacked me before I arrived at the studio. “Like badass, intimidating in a good way, knows her shit cool.” And they’re absolutely right. There’s an ease to how she directs; nothing feels forced. “Her whimsy is infectious,” Scarlett Johansson told The New York Times in a February profile of Matthews. Retweet.
“I think that’s why she’s so successful at her job and getting the best out of some of the most famous people in the world,” ScarJo said. “There’s so many different types of personalities that she’s photographed, and she’s always able to coax the playful side out of them.”
Week after week, she manages to capture something new from a group of people wildly oversaturated online. While Matthews comes from a more traditional creative background — she got her start by taking photos of bands around New York in the early ‘90s — she has a lot of respect for creatives who have found their medium through social media.
“There's so many young artists coming through now because of Instagram and TikTok,” she says. “The way that people can present themselves in their own way. They don't need a record label. They don't need a management company. They're doing things on their own.”
While between seasons of SNL, she has a few projects ongoing — an exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening soon, ideating for season 51 (sorry, no spoilers), and, of course, photographing Betches’ Women Aren’t Funny cover star.
At the photo shoot, I watch her communicate with Afualo, a podcaster and content creator who earned her platform through her wit online. Matthews peers through the backend of an oven where Afualo has hovered her face over a dish of rubber chicken. "That's it, honey!" Matthews constantly clicks away on her camera, carefully balanced on the heel of her cowboy boots.
She gathers around the monitor to review the photos coming in. “Hilarious!” she says of the display. “Let me play for like five more minutes.”
Fresh off the 50th season of SNL, Mary Ellen Matthews is still processing the milestone. “It was just an unbelievable season,” she tells me over the phone, a week after the Betches shoot. “I’m still reeling from it.” The finale was hosted by Scarlett Johansson — her sixth time — and, as always, Matthews was behind the camera.
“[Scarlett] said she wanted to do an old Hollywood theme,” Matthews recalls. “But I just wanted to keep it fresh and new.” The result? Classic glam with a playful twist: Johansson in bold red lipstick, a matching raincoat, and a martini glass balanced delicately on her forehead. For Matthews, her process is less of a checklist and more about “bringing something new and exciting to each person.” And that all starts with a folder on her Notes app.
Mary Ellen Matthews Portrait
The Art Of The
Credits
Interview: Carrie Wittmer
Photographer: Mary Ellen Matthews
Director of Photography: Riede Dervay
Stylist: Tabitha Sanchez
Set Design: Dan “Looms” Warden
Hair & Makeup: Adam Simmons
Manicure: Mai Michelle Tran
Chief Content Officer: Kate Ward
VP of Editorial: Katie Corvino
Editorial Projects: Emma Sharpe
Creative Director: Brittany Levine
Talent Director: Shanice Kellman
Motion Graphics: Laura Valencia
Brand Graphics: Nicole Maggio
Video Director: Bryan Russell Smith
Video Editor: McKay Hartwell
Food Stylist: Marilinda Hodgdon
Location: Daylight Studio
Special Thanks: Jack Maloney, Maddie Mahoney, Tess Tregellas, Eleni Sabracos
BACK TO WOMEN AREN'T FUNNY
BACK TO WOMEN AREN'T FUNNY
Photo Credit: Oz Rodriguez