Mary Ellen Matthews

New Jersey native Mary Ellen Matthews moved her career into photography when she joined the staff of SNL in 1993 as an assistant to photographer Edie Baskin. In 1999 she took over from Baskin, becoming responsible for the celebrity portraits used as celebrity "bumpers'--consequently her creative and lively photos are indelibly linked to the persona of many an artist.

Matthews' SNL photographs are taken at NBC headquarters in New York City's Rockefeller Center-- Matthews uses Studio H as her shooting space—the very same studio from which SNL is broadcast; she often photographs the week's guest-host as the week's musical guest practices their musical set in the same studio. In the summer of 2010 a retrospective of Matthew's photographs from SNL titled "Live from New York: A Decade of Portraits" was exhibited at the John Varvatos boutique at 315 Bowery in New York City—formerly the site of seminal music club CBGBs. She also began directing video clips for SNL in 2010, such as the show's opening title sequences.

Billie Eilish - SNL