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The Art of the Snl Portrait

by Mary Ellen Matthews

A visual record of SNL’s between-sketch iconography

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Hardcover New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A visual record of SNL’s between-sketch iconography

Mary Ellen Matthews’s photographs have helped define the visual punctuation of Saturday Night Live: the bumper portraits that frame commercial breaks around each week’s host or musical guest. Released for the show’s 50th anniversary, this collection gathers more than 200 color portraits alongside behind-the-scenes images, tracing over two decades of staged, often playful celebrity imagery. The book also places the photographs in context with a foreword by Lorne Michaels, a conversation with Matthews, and a captioned thumbnail index. It is both a photography collection and a document of the personalities and broadcast rituals surrounding a long-running comedy institution.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Saturday Night Live followers interested in its hosts, musical guests, and production history
  • Photography readers interested in celebrity portraiture and editorial image-making
  • Collectors of television, comedy, and pop-culture books

Themes

Celebrity portraitureSaturday Night LiveTelevision productionComedy and pop cultureBehind-the-scenes photography

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

The electric spirit of Saturday Night Live as captured by longtime resident photographer Mary Ellen Matthews. A New York Times bestseller!

Andy Samberg in a giant martini glass. Billie Eilish peeking out of a pile of snow. Kevin Hart writing his own cue cards. Paul Rudd as Paul McCartney. Sarah Silverman dusting the NBC marquee. Alec Baldwin as the Godfather.

These are just a few examples of Matthews's bold, dynamic, and playful celebrity portraits that for over two decades have artfully highlighted the hosts and musical guests who help bring the show to life. This lushly produced book is the perfect gift for comedy fans.

Week after week, photographer Mary Ellen Matthews makes magic happen on Saturday Night Live with her inventive, irreverent, and truly original photography for the "bumpers"--portraits of the host or musical guest that transition the show to and from commercial breaks.

Published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of SNL and exquisitely designed by Pentagram, this book is the first collection of Mary Ellen's remarkable body of work as well as a celebration of America's longest-running comedy TV show.

Includes:
* More than 200 color portraits and behind-the-scenes photographs
* A foreword by SNL founder and executive producer Lorne Michaels
* Mary Ellen Matthews in conversation
* A thumbnail index of all the images with captions by the photographer
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